Blink of an eye
by Szallejh
Summary: What, if everything you thought was real is shattered within the blink of an eye? What, if everything that had been a game for you, is your reality now? - The story of a gamer girl, who is suddenly stuck in her favourite game and has to built up a whole new life in Tyria - and besides fight a dragon and keep her social life intact. (Translation in progress)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Bizarre flashes of light, dashing towards my direction in an incomprehensible speed. The feeling to be dragged forwards, though simultaneously an invisible force pulled me to the other direction. _That's what time travelling must feel like_ , a thought flashed through my mind. Thinking clear was not the problem, I just had absolutely no idea what was actually happening to me. I had been on the way home, it had currently started to snow again. Then something had dazzled me, first I thought it would be the lights of the cars passing. But then, all of a sudden, I stranded here - in this chaos of light and noise, which I was not able to associate. It was a mixture of crackles, crunches and squeakes, everything known somehow, but all together more than unfamiliar.

The lights, which had been sheer white for the first seconds of my strange journey, now took on every imaginable color, changed with no recognizable rhythm and pulsed, more and less. The pressure let go of me a bit, and I used the opportunity to let in a deep breath inside my lungs. Now the whole thing seemed way less threatening.

That was when the pain started. As suddenly and not less intense as the light tunnel. I felt the urge to scream, but pain in my ears made every sound fade and my face twisted into a grimace. Every muscle in my body clenched up and seemed to crack at any moment now. My eyes felt like they would burst instantly under the pressure lasting upon them, and every single bone threatened to split everywhere at the same time. With every flash of light dashing towards me, a needle invaded my skin, and within the blink of an eye, nothing inside my body felt the way it should have anymore. But the pain faded slowly, and finally the yearning scream evaded the full to bursting lungs, way too loud for my wounded ears, and way too foreign.

That was not my voice! Was it? It had never sounded as strange as it did now. Deeper... Or just _different_. Whatever the light tunnel had tone to me, it had changed something. And not just my voice, as far as I could tell by the feeling inside of my body.

The lights faded and left me in a room filled with Nothing. But shortly after my eyes had relaxed in the welcome darkness, everything around me disappeared, warped, was ripped apart and replaced with colors and shapes, which I could only see blurred. My body jerked, as I hit something really hard, what appeared to be a green meadow only seconds later. Still full of dizziness, I raised my head, took a harsh breath - and was immediately shaken by an enormous coughing attack.

It took a few moments to calm my breathing down a bit. I wiped away a few tears out of my eyes and used the opportunity to look around. I had escaped the light tunnel - but I was not at home anymore. Broad acres surrounded me, far away I could see the shapes of mountains, spiked with scattered waterfalls, here and there a few forests and it definitely was spring time. Everywhere I could see flowers blooming and the meadows brimmed over with life, though the animals looked not quite familiar with the ones I knew. Not far from me flew a big-sized beetle, but I was too much in a state of shock to care much about the abnormal size of these animals.

 _Where the hell am I!?_ With one hand I ruffled through my hair - and stopped immediately. I glanced at my right hand in disbelieve, as it definitely had only four fingers, that were unusual thick for human proportions and tapered like claws. Besides, the skin was way too dark! Instead of the pale white skin, that did not see much sun all year round, my new skin was a dark bronze. A quick glance and I knew that the other hand was changed like this too. Anyway, my arms were way too short and the lower arms too thick! And my hair had never been this long, and since when it was red?

It all seemed familiar to me in some ways, but the thought would not want to reveal itself for now. Only when my glimpse lighted to my naked feet, which had no resemblance with human feet at all, the scales fell from my eyes. This were the feet of an Asura! Three big claw-like toes and a clumpy shape. Which would explain the urged body structure of course.

But how was this possible? Neither did I take some kind of drugs, nor did I try virtual reality. I just had been walking home from a normal work day! Maybe someone had mixed something into my drink?

Though I couldn't explain it to myself, it felt extremely real. I was inside the body of an Asura, and I was sitting amidst the fields of the Metrica Provence, which was proved by the geometrical shapes and floating cubes.

I was in the midst of Tyria, in a game which is called Guild Wars 2.


	2. Chapter 1 - First Steps

**Chapter 1 - First Steps**

I sat down on the grass to blow away the cobwebs in my head. After I had closed my eyes and taken a few deep breaths, I realized that I had to accept the situation the way it was, whatever would happen now. Even if this was only a dream or a bad trip, I was at least captured here for the moment. And on the off chance that this was my new reality, I didn't want to endanger my life more than necessary.

I threw a glance down my body. What I saw was the typical Asuran body structure: slim shoulders, nothing that seemed like breasts, and from down the waist kind of clumsy. Actually not quite a desirable figure, but possibly the male Asura had other beauty ideals than humans?

That thought made me giggle, but then I startled over the strange sound of my voice. _That's still not my voice!_ I thought, but with every sound I made, it grew more and more familiar. _Same as hoarseness, when you reach the point at which you can't remember how your voice sounds in a healthy condition._

My clothing was very simple. I wore a cream-colored shirt, which was corded up to the top and had blue shoulder pads. It was garnished with geometrical figures in blue and pink. A quite similar coloring had the skirt (at least it seemed to be something like this), only that he was open at the front and revealed dark brown pants, that felt really comfortable and soft. A dark wide belt was wounded around my hips, equipped with few smaller bags. One of these contained some coins, copper, silver and even a handful gold, as I had found out earlier.  
The shoes were made of dark leather and left the toes blank, furthermore I wore dark gauntlets and above gloves in the color of my shirt, which were also garnished with blue cubes.  
Well, not that bad for the start.

In the bag pack that I had placed between my legs were a few food supplies, a filled up water pouch, a map, and more stuff, which I had never seen before and had no clue what its purpose could be. In a side flap was a hammer attached, a quite heavy and impressing one. It had typical-asuran signs too, and as I took it in my hands, it seemed to be a suitable fighting weapon.

 _Wait a moment!_

I had fought many times before, indeed only virtual and with my keyboard. I had never held a real weapon in my hands until now and my combat experience wasn't existent after all! But in case this was the _real_ Tyria, that meant I wouldn't be able to skip fights completely.

The thought to really hurt someone with this hammer made me feel fairly uncomfortable. _Or to be hurt in combat myself._

I hastily thrust the thought away and plugged the hammer back in its flap. The sun stood high in the sky, and I couldn't sit on this meadow forever. First of all, I had to search an accommodation for the night, and then I would have to gain control of my new life.

With a sigh I stood up, shouldered the back pack and kept watch for a location that could be promising for a night quarter. Only a few meters beside me a path winded through the landscape, leading to the direction of a few cubic buildings. I followed the path, always attentive watching the surrounding. Who knew what hung around this place, searching for some prey?

Every so often trees seamed the surrounding, and I was glad to see that at least the nature had similarities to the world I knew.  
On the left side I spotted a small platform in the air, which three stony footbridges leaded to. The construct was sheltered by three pyramidal frames, filled with a glimmering blue diaphragm. The closer I came to the platform, the louder I could hear a steadily humming and buzzing fulfilling the air around me. Its source had to be the blue diaphragms.  
All around the platform floated small cubes, overgrown with pink and blue plants, some of them covered with vines wined to the ground.

I had seen all this more than once in-game, but it had never made such a majestic impression as it did in the moment that I stood right in front of it in person. Slowly I ascended one of the footbridges, not quite sure if this construction was as steady as it looked. Above the platform stood two golems, at least twice the size of me. Whoa! I really didn't want to mess with those. Luckily for me, they seemed to be in something like a Standby-mode, because they were beeping for themselves uncaring and didn't notice me in any way.

Curious as I was, I stroke one of the vines growing on the platform with my hand, and startled when it constricted very quickly under my touch. _You have never been the one for plants_ , I said to myself silently, and carefully I descended the platform, glad that there had been no rain recently to turn the mossy stones into a slippery trap.

To my right I now saw a classic laboratory in which a brisk business could be found. Everywhere Asura of most diverse appearance bustled around, called things to each other, cursed or chuntered absurd things. I didn't dare to disturb them in their work, and as labs would unlikely offer hotel rooms, I continued wandering in the direction where a town's silhouette began to display itself in the distance.

Here and there, some other Asura and their golems ran over my way, but none of them seemed to pay much attention to me. Few greeted hastily, and with my head hanging, I murmured "excelsior". As I went along, I became anxious if I was able to find my right place in this world after all. How should I earn money to live? I didn't have the faintest notion of how golems did work or something else that dealt with technique. Most likely they would call me the stupidest Asura in whole Tyria. I sighed. There would be at least something, some dirty work that wasn't already done by golems. At least so I hoped.

Hastily I threw a glance in my coin pouch. I had a few gold coins, with them I could possibly manage to get by for a few days. And in this time a path would surely reveal itself.

I had arrived at the city entrance by now, a big triangle made of stone, which was flanked by light pillars on both sides. _Soren Draa_ , as I remembered. At least I was near Rata Sum, the main city of the Asura. My midsection suddenly was in a flap. I liked Rata Sum most of all Tyrian cities, and I couldn't wait to see this masterpiece of architecture and the everyday life of the Asura with my own eyes. I just had to walk through a simple portal in Soren Draa and...  
I swallowed. What would portal-travelling feel like? _Hopefully not like my journey to Tyria..._

Awestruck, I passed the light pillars and went through the city gate. A comfy sound originated from the pillars, kind of a technical humming. Not too loud, but still all around.

Soren Draa for its own was a real masterpiece. A city, half built in stone, with towers, floating hammocks and stones everywhere, some floating cubes were even planted with trees! Blue lights surrounded me anywhere I looked, and sounds from the labs assaulted me from all sides. Cries, clanking, beeping, humming, golem's steps on the stone.

I must have looked quite silly, standing there with the mouth open and staring around, because another Asura stood beside me grinning and said: "Each time you come in it's a treat to the eyes, isn't it?"

Startled, I forced myself to close my mouth and stared at the ground to hide the blush ascending in my face. "Eh... Yes. Absolutely fantastic. As if you were here for the first time." I cleared my throat. The Asura shook his head amused and when I finally dared to lift my head, he had long disappeared in the bustle.

 _Huh. Maybe I shouldn't behave that stupid next time, if I don't want to be the main attraction today._

So I set myself upright and went along the street, while I tried to look around as unsuspicious as possible. I ascended a huge amount of stairs and already saw the portal at the end of the street, which would lead me to Rata Sum. But a glance towards the heaven was enough and I knew that evening was coming and I wanted to rest a night first, before I hurled myself in the next adventure. The fair blue had long been replaced by a color play in yellow, violet and pink, which painted the clouds in wonderful patterns and deigned a look upon the first stars of night. When did it get this dark?

Luckily for me, a pyramidal entrance was located to my right, that indicated a few tables and chairs in its inside. Above the entrance was a sign, which tagged this place as a tavern. I wasn't even surprised that I was able to read the Asuran writing. At least a small glimmer of light, this way I would just be the dumbest Asura, not the dumbest analphabetic one.

Happy to eventually have found a stay for the night, I entered the tavern. Inside was a hustle and bustle, but the few empty tables I saw made me hope that there could also be a few empty rooms.

Single-minded I walked straight to the counter and saw a slight Asura behind it, and I wasn't sure if the glance she threw at me as friendly or annoyed.  
The Asura had brown hair, tied to a simple knot above her head, and her eyes were made of an inexpressive blue. But her ears were gigantic! I knew that all Asura had really big ears, but these surpassed anything I had seen so far. If they didn't protrude, they would have reached down to her breast.

"Excelsior. So, what do you want?" She spoke in a louder voice than I had expected from her tiny body. _What do you expect inside a tavern, where it's always this noisy?_

"Eh, I..." I cleared my throat. "I am searching for a room for this night. And if that's possible, something to eat and drink." I became aware of how impolite I just had acted, but the Asura didn't mind. She toddled to the wall behind her and took a key, carved with the number _13.  
Always a good sign._

She handed me the key and said "Room for one night and one meal, makes three silver."

Nervous I fumbled inside my pouch until I found the correct amount of coins and handed them over to the Asura. She nodded satisfied and pointed me in the direction of one of the empty tables. I sat down and waited for my meal to come. Glad to be able to sit after all, I rested my head upon my arms and closed my eyes.

It seemed there were a few long, long days waiting for me.


	3. Chapter 2 - Rata Sum

**Chapter 2 - Rata Sum**

It wasn't long before a grumpy looking Asura brought me a jug and a steaming plate without a word and disappeared before I was able to thank him. I didn't mind at all, because I was not really in the right mood for having conversations.

I took a deep belt and drew my face into a grimace. Though I couldn't say what was inside, it had a fruity touch and was pretty strong. Perfect for my current situation. Another belt and then I concentrated on my dinner. My stomach was rumbling as the steam reached my nostrils. The excitement had taken too much control over me to care about stuff like food and drink during the last hours, but now I felt like I had starved for at least three days. _How long did it take to get here?_ I had lost every feeling for time during my strange journey. Thinking about it, it had felt like just a few minutes, but my body said something else.

Same as the jug, the plate also was made of polished wood, already with scratches and cracks on the rim. Nothing special, but at least the material didn't seem to crumple away in my hands. On the plate laid a big piece of meat, pig I supposed, a little too burned in my opinion, and besides it was a clutch of cooked vegetables. I recognized broccoli, carrots and kohlrabi. Strange mix.

Careful, I took the fork and scooped a portion vegetables right into my mouth and was surprised by the diversity of culinary herbs. The taste was foreign, but not bad at all. As I wanted to focus on the meat, I searched in vain for the knife.  
 _No Knife?_

"Have you ever seen your teeth?" I just wanted to raise my hand and ask for something to cut my meat, when a high, kind of childish and almost annoying voice could be heard beside me. Either did I speak my thoughts out loud, or my confusion had been obvious to tell.

The voice totally ripped me out of my thoughts, and with a jolt I soared up and bumped the knee against the table rim. Hissing, I breathed for air and clenched my teeth together and suppressed a painful groan. _Ouch, that hurt!_ I doubled over a bit, and as the pain reduced I threw a glance at this unexpected guest.  
And bumped the knee once more as I recognized who was sitting there next to me.

The asura was bald and had ash-gray skin. Big blue eyes focused on me interested and a small mouth was grinning in amusement. The pointed ears were covered by small gold-garnished plates, some of which brown ties dangled and swayed to and fro with every small movement. Also the rest of the armor was hold mostly in blue and sparkled as it had been newly repaired and gentrified.

"Y-You... You are Zo-Zojja! THE Zojja!" was the only thing I could say in this moment, for more I was too busy holding and rubbing my knee and staring upon the asura with my mouth open.

"That's who I am, I suppose. Indeed. A real genius." She said with an arched brow. I realized how stupid I was looking and my face heated up in disgrace.  
Zojja cleared her throat and looked in my eyes. "And you are...?"  
"Oh, ehm, I..." _Your name, dumbass. Just give her your nickname!_ "I'm... I'm Szallejh!" Grinning, I reached out my hand to Zojja, which she took after a brief moment of confusion. It didn't seem to be common practice for asura to shake each other's hands.

 _Rule number one: Hand-shaking - human._

"Well, _Szallejh_. To come back to our basic topic. You don't have a knife, because the teeth of an asura are obviously sharp enough to do this task on their own." Zojja said this with amazement in her voice, which even I could hear, and I supposed I carried a very strange impression with me. An asura with absolutely no clue about asurans. So either a young woman, who suddenly got struck in a completely different world, or - which had to be more likely to Zojja - a fully retarded member of her species. Maybe she assumed that in my krewe some experiment had gone so badly wrong, that it had totally screwed up my mind. Wouldn't be the first time for sure; stuff like this happened all the time.

"Eh, yes, of course." I replied idiotic and impaled the meat with the fork, to bite off a big piece. Tasted good, though it was black on the outside, it was unexpected juicy on the inside, and I really bet on pork. But now I realized what Zojja had meant with her words. The big piece of meat obviously caused chewing problems, it would be better next time to bite off only small pieces, one after another. I swallowed and wiped a drop of meat juice from my chin with the back of my hand, as I realized that Zojja had been watching me all the time. Great. A retarded moron with really bad table manners. A better first impression would not have been possible at all.

But Zojja didn't seem to care much about that. She ordered herself something to drink and shifted a bit towards me. "So. What exactly has happened with you out there in the fields?" She whispered, so no one else inside this tavern could hear it.

"Eh?" I said with my mouth full, because I was too much focused in eating to understand what Zojja was up to.

The same grumpy asura, who had brought me my food, now wordlessly plunked a jug in front of her, and she took a deep swallow. "Well then. You appear out of nothing, float in the air for a while and then bellyland in the middle of a meadow. That didn't look like teleportation, if you ask me. Then you stare at the distance for ages and cough your guts out. So if this was a kind of teleportation, then I would urgently replace or at least repair the teleport device if I was you. Otherwise, you won't arrive at your destination in one piece next time." She grinned at me and made no move to hide her curiosity. Sure, the way she explained it, it must have looked really strange for outsiders. I didn't grasp the basics of it anyway at all. Now hearing it from the few of another didn't left the case less strange.

"It was no kind of teleportation... I think." I took a deep swallow from the jug to wash down the meat. Casually, my tongue touched a row of small, utterly sharp teeth, which made me grin too.

"What else was it? A kind of spell?"

"I... Believe me, I have no clue! All I know is so absurd, you would never ever believe me one word. You would think that the lab ceiling has crashed down on my head." I bit off another piece of meat. It was strange to say things like that, but I would get as used to it as I did to the voice, that got more and more familiar, the more I spoke. At least it started to sound like _my voice_.

Zojja giggled faintly. "Well, I already assume that. But believe me; I have seen many things in my life. I have fought dragon champions and their masters and I won! I am the greatest genius in Rata Sum. If someone is going to figure out absurd things, then it should be me, don't you think?" She pointed her thumb proudly on her little chest.

I scratched on my back head nervously and looked around faintly in panic, to be sure that no one was listening to our conversation. "The truth is, that I'm not from here at all."

"I already considered that, with your behavior! So there are other asura outside Tyria?"

"No, not like this. Not from this country... Not from this world."

Confusion appeared upon Zojja's face, and she definitely took the fallen lab ceiling into account again.

"You have to know, there is another world... Without magic and without dragons. A world full of humans. No asura, sylvari, no charr. In this world, the people know the stories of Tyria, of Destiny's Edge, the Pact..."

Zojja shook her head. She didn't believe me, as I could obviously read the signs of doubt inside her eyes.  
Frustrated, I took another swallow. "Look, I knew you wouldn't believe me! Even I don't want to believe all those things that have happened to me today." I leaned my chin against the jug's rim and deflated the air noisy through my nose.  
But then the expression of disbelieve vanished of Zojjas face, replaced through the natural curiosity of the asura. "Keep talking."

Zojja waved to one of the asura and ordered two more drinks for us. It already was the fourth round, and with every swallow I felt more and more dizzy and the words flew easier from my tongue. I had told Zojja my whole story, in every smallest detail, and answered far more questions, which she couldn't let unasked after I finished talking. I had never been a good drinker, and as the fourth jug now stood in front of my nose, I felt comfortably warm and the surrounding seemed to spin around in every direction. Zojja was running out of questions, because we had been quiet now for a while. Intensively, I stared into the reddish brewage and wondered why the jug was moving itself, though I kept my hands completely off it. Was this a kind of earthquake?

"Tell me, Zojja.. What exactly is this stuff we are drinking all the time?"

Even Zojjas grayish face had assumed a blowzy color, but she seemed to handle bigger amounts of alcohol much better than I did. At least her voice sounded steady and solid, not as mumbled as mine. "This, my dear, is Juniberry-Gin. The best gin you will find in and around Rata Sum."

 _Hah, that's why I had recognized the fruity touch before!_

"Well, all the same it takes hold of you very fast! This, or with this body I'm just not able to hold my drinks."

Zojja laughed. "So that is something you can fix quite easy. But I would concern about more important things for now, if I was you."

"For example a steadily growing pressure on my bladder." I murmured, because slowly the liquid didn't just become noticeable inside my head. I scratched behind one of my impossibly long ears and asked, grinning: "Eh, Zojja... Where do I find... I mean... The..."

Zojja laughed out loud again. It sounded beautiful; she had a silvery laugh, which almost sounded like bells. When she was laughing, the annoying undertone she usually had while talking disappeared completely out of her voice. This _I know everything and you know nothing,_ which she used to make clear to everyone she met. Well, she was right at least in my case. But I was convinced that she had this attitude towards everyone. She used to talk in this tone even in front of her former master, Snaff.

I glanced in the direction Zojja was now pointing at, and saw a dark, nondescript door at the end of the hallway, and a green light glowing above it. _That must be it._

Careful I arose from the bench seat, trying to avoid more knee-against-table impacts. The way it felt, there was already a gigantic bruise over the whole leg, I didn't need this a third time. But as soon as I was standing, the room started to rotate itself faster and faster, and I had to cling on the table first for a moment, so I wouldn't fall over.

"You won't handle a fifth round this evening, it seems." Zojja joked and leaned back to enjoy the show. I rolled my eyes the way I was sure she would see, and groped my way carefully to the door, which seemed to be too far away by now.

 _Rule number two: Don't drink too much the first time when you don't know what you're drinking!_

After what seemed like ages (it must have been only a few seconds), I had arrived at the door. It was a plain wooden door, which showed already a few scratches. I supposed there were more usually troublemakers and brawls inside this tavern, darting plates and other objects.  
At the door hung a disc, showing simply the symbol of thee waves, lying on top of each other. _Simple._ The light above the doorframe still glowed green, and I took that as sign to step inside.

As I reached for the handle, I could hear the sound of water, but in that moment I was not sure if this was reality or just made of dizzy thoughts in my head. But as I opened the door and the sound grew much louder, I knew that this was one of the last signs of my soberness.  
I entered the room and closed the door behind me, there was no such thing like a key, but the light, which could be also seen on the inside, now turned from green to red.

 _let's hope that no one is so drunk that he won't recognize the difference between green and red._

The room itself was nothing more as a small chamber without windows. The ceiling glowed in geometrical patterns and I could hear a steadily humming besides the water rushing. The rush came from a kind-of-toilet, as I could now realize, which in actual fact was more a block with a hole in the middle. Inside the hole was a channel floated by water: The source of the water rushing. I could locate neither toilet paper nor a flushing, but I also had absolutely no clue about an asuran's toilet-peculiarities.

With trembling fingers I tinkered around on the belt, what would have been way easier in a sober condition than it was now. But after a few moments I could manage the difficulties and loosened the belt, so that I could take the pants off and take a seat on the wooden toilet. The curiosity caused me to throw a glance of what was located under the pants, and with a sigh of relieve I determined that the body structure of an asura at least had a few rudimentarily similarities to humans. At least I hoped so.

Few minutes later I left the room with a crimson head and the light above changed to green automatically. The surrounding didn't move around me anymore, so the way back to the table was way more comfortable and less shaming. At least I now had had the chance to take a glance into toilet-peculiarities of asura.

 _And next time you will be prepared for the sudden water jet coming from underneath!_

With a sigh, I squeezed on the bench back to Zojja. She chuckled and pushed my jug towards me. "This one, and then it will be time for you to rest a bit, I suppose. Don't you think?"

I nodded and took a nip from the juniberry-gin. I had not known the taste of these berries before, but I liked them. At least the fermented version.

"Suppose we have a lot to do the next days, hm?"

"You can say that again! I have to introduce you to the arcane council members, have to explain them your situation without sounding like a maniac, I have to get you an accommodation and work..." Zojja didn't sound concerned or stressed about this vision at all, she even seemed to be amused about it.

Suddenly a question popped up in my head. I frowned and stared at Zojja. "Why do you have such an interest in me at all? You don't have any responsibility for me. Shouldn't it be all the same to you what I will do and how I will cope with all that?"

Zojja seemed truly surprised of my question and took a moment to think about, how she would phrase her answer best. "Well, Szallejh... It doesn't happen every day that an asura falls down from the sky. You appear to be a very interesting person. And, to be honest, I want to be the first person to discover whatever you are and besides... you're likeable. I think." The last sentence even surprised Zojja and I smiled, after I had emptied my jug.

Zojja grinned too, for a short moment, and then she cleared her throat and pulled both jugs to the end of the table. "It's already late. I think we should go up to our rooms now."

That was fair enough for me. I was tired, the day had been really tiring and the thought of the oncoming days didn't make that exhaustion much better.

Zojja accompanied me to the bar, of which a small spiral staircase leaded several floors upstairs. In the third floor, Zojja lead me to a narrow hallway with some doors on both sides. She stopped in front of a door with the number "13" carved in it.

"This is your room, isn't it? You would do well to lock the door behind you. We'll continue talking tomorrow while breakfast." With these words and a small wave, Zojja disappeared behind the stairs. I fumbled around in my bag to find the key and then locked the door, as Zojja had advised me. Inside it was dark, and I could only figure out shadows of furniture, but I was too tired to search for a light source. I urgently threw my back pack in one corner and launched myself on what looked like a hammock in the dark. The material was comfortably soft and eased a bit under my weight, though the hammock had a slightly musty smell. At the footboard laid a neatly folded blanket, which I now spread out over me. It was light, but it kept warm enough. And I barely had ensconced myself as I already felt asleep and dreamt of the crazy light tunnel, but without all the pain and other vexations.

* * *

The next morning I felt as if I had died a thousand deaths. The bright daylight, coming out of a three-cornered window next to my hammock, woke me up. Though there were red carpets on both sides of the window, I hadn't thought about closing them the last evening. The light burned in my eyes as soon as I opened them, and as I stretched myself carefully, every muscle inside my body ached like I had a severe stiffness. Besides, my head throbbed so hard that it seemed to explode every moment now. I couldn't put my finger on it if it was because of the travel or of the alcohol, but both together really had no good impact on me.

The photosensitivity and the pain cooled down a bit after I had laid awake a few minutes. At last I kicked the blanket to one end of the hammock, which was yellow-blue squared as I could see now, and swung my feet over the rim of the hammock. The bottom was cold, but that didn't really upset me. Only now I realized that I was wearing my whole outfit from yesterday, which was totally crumbled now after the night and didn't smell that good either. Distracted, my hand stroke over my face. _What would I give for a nice warm shower!_

Still sitting on the hammock, I inspected the room. It really was furnished with only the bare necessities: The hammock _(by the way floating, how genius was that!) was_ located near one of the smaller walls, the wall on the left decorated only the window and on the right was only the door, still holding the key in its lock. _Calming_. In front of the opposing wall stood just a small bureau, with a bowl and a pile of cloths on it.

The bowl looked promising; though it was not a nice warm shower, at least it was something to clean myself.  
Ignoring the pain, I took off my shirt and squeaked startled. I had never seen an asura naked before, and somehow I didn't figure that female asura wouldn't have breasts. Not even beginnings of nipples. Therefore a bellybutton and... well.  
Otherwise the leathery skin fascinated me, so much harder and stringily then I was used to of human skin. My dark complexion was streaked with light grey spots in every size and form. What would I have given for a fullbody mirror in this situation.

After I had completely taken off my clothes, I stepped towards the bureau and stared inside the bowl, which was filled with blue glimmering water. Didn't look that healthy after all, but it couldn't be that bad, otherwise they wouldn't give you something like that in public taverns.  
I grasped one of the cloths and dipped it in the bowl. Nothing special until here, no deadly acid, eroding my skin, no tingling that would promise evil. Au contraire, it felt like boringly normal warm water. _Why is the water warm?_

I washed myself with the cloth from top to bottom, whereby the water left a feeling of cleanliness and warmth on my skin. Okay, this was pretty nearly as good as a warm shower. After that, I dried myself and unknotted my hair with my fingers, after I had sat down on the hammock again. My hair was fire red, slightly curled and reached to my hips. _Not bad._

Now that I felt much better, I slipped back into my old clothes. That dulled my feeling of cleanliness a bit, but did I have another choice? If I would get an accommodation, the first thing I would do was to look for a proper selection of clothes.  
Swiftly I knotted my hair into a bun, glad that they would stay in this position without hair clips or stuff like that. However I realized that this room had no second door with the symbol of a wave on it. _Damn it._ And yet I had never been a friend of public toilets.

I shouldered my back pack with a sigh, locked the door behind me and walked along the hallway, searching for a door with green light. This appeared to be at the very end of the hallway, and finally after a few minutes, I bimbled down the stairs towards the bar.

Zojja was already waiting for me, one elbow braced on the wood of the bar and talking to the bar tender. As she saw me, she ended the conversation and came to me, smiling.  
"Ah, good morning! You are not really an early bird, are you?"

I shrugged and dropped the room key wordlessly. "Didn't have an easy day yesterday, as you perhaps can imagine."

Zojja laughed her beautiful laugh again. "I like your humor, Szallejh. Come on, it's senseless to start the day without breakfast. After all, it's the most important meal of the day!"

Now it was my turn to laugh, and I followed Zojja to one of the tables, on whom I could already see two plates and two mugs. The plates were filled with egg, a few steaming slices of bread and something that looked like cooked beans, and the mugs steamed tempting, most likely with tea. We had breakfast as if we had all the time in the world, and eventually I asked Zojja about our plans for today.

"First of all, we have to travel to Rata Sum and request an audience by the arcane council. But that shouldn't be this difficult, after all I'm quite a genius and I know the right people. Then you need an accommodation. This will be the easiest of all, because the colleges' dorms have always a few rooms to spare, even for not-students. More difficult it will be to find you work. At least you will have to fund several things on your own."

I sipped carefully on the mug, avoiding to scald my tongue. _Yep, definitely tea._

"And what opportunities do I have? There has to be some dirty work that is not already done by golems."

Zojja nodded. "There is. I doubt we will find a krewe that takes you, therefore you lack in technical knowledge. But some taverns always seek people for drink selling. Granted, it's not the best way to make money, but it will do for the start."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

On the streets of Soren Draa was already a noisy hustle and bustle. I really had slept much longer then I usually intended to, because judging from the sun, it was nearly midday. We were greeted at every corner; at least Zojja was a huge celebrity for asuran standards.

We had to ascend several stairs until we finally stood in front of the portal that would lead us to Rata Sum. As I saw the swirling blue mass in front of me, which I had to go through soon, I started to feel a bit queasy. I thought back to my fears, that portal travelling would feel very similar to what I felt on my travel to Tyria. But I swallowed this fear down and glanced to Zojja.

She gave me a pitying look, as if she knew what was going on inside of me. She nodded to me encouraging. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Ready."

Together we stepped through the portal, and it felt as if I was wrapped inside a cold blanket. Suddenly all noises became silent, and I felt a soft pressure from all around me. But that feeling lasted only for the blink of an eye, and instantly the cold blanket was replaced by the hot jungle air of Rata Sum. I took a deep breath. _That's it already?  
_ Okay, it seemed I could get used to portal travelling.

I opened my eyes carefully and stepped down the portal platform. I recognized the three-cornered cove, where on three portals led to different regions of Tyria, and swallowed, as I looked down the platform. It was no secret that Rata Sum was a floating cube above the province Metrica, but now standing on top of it, without any kind of protection and so high, that you couldn't see the ground... That was kind of disturbing.

Zojja cleared her throat to get my attention. "So, here we are. Welcome to Rata Sum, the main city of the asura!" With a widespread gesture, she pointed to the city spreading in front of me. We ascended a few stairs and went to the midst of the main place, from which stairs led to deeper levels of the city, to a motley crew of laboratories, colleges and shops inside the cube.

I had difficulties not to lose sight of Zojja, even as I scurried right behind her. The ways were crowded with asura of most various appearances, there were giants, nearly as high as a human juvenile, and progenies, that were only as high as my own bellybutton. Tailors and Vendors screamed out most different merchandise and hooded figures most likely dealt their illegal stuff, in the middle of a public place.  
The air stirred with a mixture out of voices, murmurs, screams, laughs, metallic steps of golems and occasionally explosions from labs underneath that shook the earth. The tension in this city was little short of catchable, everyone seemed to be in a hurry and quite often verbal duels started, mostly because of concept thievery and who would be the bigger genius.

Head shaking, I passed all these figures and wondered if it would be like this at every time of day. I would figure that out soon - and much more.

Zojja had stopped walking, and I almost ran round her, as distracted as I was. We stood under a big floating cube, in which the arcane council had its seat as far as I knew.

"We are there." Said Zojja and spoke to one of the nondescript, but without a doubt high-placed asura, who retreated after a short discussion and activated a few buttons on his control desk.

Zojja gave me a soft grin. "Step number one was easier then I had thought. They are going to teleport us up." Her glance went upwards a brief moment, where a blue circle had appeared, which now hummed louder and louder. Then she grinned at me, again. "That might feel a little bit strange now."

And a blue energy beam swooped towards us and enshrouded Zojja and me.


	4. Chapter 3 - Rain

**Chapter 3 - Rain**

 _(five years later)_

The main place in Rata Sum even at night was regularly a sheer pandemonium. But as soon as it started to rain, most asura scarpered inside their labs or shops, which was why the place was uncommonly silent this night. I only heard the pattering of the rain and my own steps over the wet stone, and only scattered did some asura cross my way, most of them in a hurry and with an energy shield above their heads to hold off the rain. I didn't have such a shield, and I didn't care at all. The rain was warm on my skin and I didn't wear anything that was not waterproof.

I slowly scuffed in the direction of one of the piazzas, which I liked to use as a safe haven, in case I needed to think about something. This piazza was completely empty too, so I sat down at its corner, let my legs dangle over the platform and leaned my head against the stone walls.

Something poured down my cheek, and I couldn't say if it was just the rain or my tears. Usually I was good at keeping all the bad things that had happened within the last years hidden deep inside my mind. But it also had been rainy in the night in which I had lost them both...  
That was why the rain always unfolded the memories and handed me, as in this special night, over to a feeling of forsakenness and helplessness.

A virulent lightning flashed in multiple branches over the whole sky, closely followed by an earsplitting crack of thunder. Rata Sum was often at the mercy of heavy thunderstorms, and usually the lightning conductors did their jobs well. It seldom happened that one of the labs got stroke, and even then the reason mostly was no thunderstorm but a failed experiment.

Without any voice a shadow joined me, the only thing I heard were her rustling clothes, as she also let her legs dangle and stared into the night black sky. _Zojja._

"For any reason, I always find you in this place when it starts to rain." Zojja didn't waste any time for words of greeting. We knew each other well enough by now; no one had ever been able to look that deep into my inner thoughts, except for Zojja.

"Every time it rains, the memory comes back. They both died in a night with a similar thunderstorm." Another flash lighted the terrace for a brief moment as if in daylight, only to leave us again in darkness.

"You blame yourself for their deaths." It was more an assessment than a question, and Zojja had put it straight. I nodded.

"Zojja... Do _you_ blame yourself for Snaff's death?" Zojja didn't think about it much and shook her head confidently, so that the bands on her ears flapped to and fro. "No. I did everything that was in my power, and I hadn't been able to do more to protect him. True, many years I blamed myself. But what could I have done? It would have been impossible to hold back Logan. HE is the one I blame, but not me. Not anymore. And you bear not more blame for the death of your friends than I bear for Snaff. Just think about it. What could you have done different, to prevent what happened?"

Slowly I breathed out and clearly tasted the salt of my tears on my lips. _Nothing._ There was nothing that I could have changed. Still, I couldn't let go of the feeling of guilt. A big lump had formed in my throat, and whatever I tried, I couldn't get rid of it.

"It's just... I miss them so much!" I finally uttered and was straightaway shaken by heavy sobs. Eventually I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and a pair of gleaming blue eyes looked at me full of sadness.

"I know, my dear. I too miss Snaff, more than anything. Every day I wish he would still be here with me. I would get off the title of the greatest genius in whole Rata Sum immediately if I could bring him back somehow! But I can't. Snaff is dead. I was the one who cremated his lifeless body. It took me very long to accept the fact of his death. There are things that have to happen, so the Big Picture can function properly. And maybe the death of your friends in this night was also needed for that."

Zojja didn't cry. Not this time. But I saw the never-ending sadness in her eyes, the great pain of even greater loss, and it hurt so much that I couldn't look in her eyes anymore. I squeezed my face against the cold, wet stone, by that time completely soaked and worn out. Then I pulled my knees to my chest and supported my head on them.

We had been through a quite similar situation some time before, Zojja and me. But back then, she had been the one crying, and I had not known what it meant to lose someone.

"You know, sometimes I just wish to head back. It's been five years now, and I have forgotten most of it. I don't even know my name anymore, not to talk about how the other world had been like! All pictures and memories are blurred and declined, some of them already gone. But still, I want to go back sometimes. Because even if I have forgotten most of it, I never had to bear so much pain and suffer like I do now here."

Zojja was quiet for quite a while. The other world was something we hadn't talked about for a really long time. Since there was no recognizable way back we had agreed to forget it as good as possible. It hurt that I didn't even had memories of my family left. How they had looked like, how they had talked. I had found a new home here, but had it been worth it? Was it worth the pain which I had suffered along the last years?

"It's true; you have gone through much since you got here. But you were able to experience many good things as well, don't forget that!"

I couldn't bring a response. Of course, Zojja was right. I had undergone so much, got to know so many residents of Tyria, I even had fought against a dragon! And I knew now how to build a golem. But all that had cost much, maybe too much.

Zojja rose beside me, already as soaked by the rain as me, because of the wind blowing raindrops on the terrace now and then, and reached out her hand towards me.  
"Come on now. You should get some rest; tomorrow will be the parade in Lion's Arch."  
I seized Zojjas hand, but I didn't feel well with the thought of tomorrow.

"I don't want to go there."

"I neither, believe me. But we have to. It is our duty as the heroes of Tyria, to honor the ones who have fallen in the fight against the dragons and to encourage the ones who are still alive."

"Pah. I never wanted to be a hero of Tyria."

That made Zojja laugh. "They will ignite great fires, for Snaff, Eir, Trahearne, and one for..."  
Her laughter became silent immediately. I too lowered my head.  
"You are right, Zojja. I should go now."

Zojja squeezed my hand for a brief moment, a gesture that could reveal so much more than every word could do. Then she disappeared without further farewells, and I headed back to my room. Again, a thunderbolt blasted straight above me, and this time as loud as if the stone itself would crack into pieces.


	5. Chapter 4 - Phlunted

**Chapter 4 - Phlunted**

"Is everything okay with you? " I could sense Zojjas hand sustaining on my shoulder, while I tried to order my thoughts. My mind had gone a bit dizzy through the teleporting; it had reminded me somehow on the fast accelerating of a roller coaster. Only that it went straight upwards.

"Yes... Yes, I'm fine. It was just... a bit strange, as I would say."

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you." Zojja said grinning, and as my condition slowly went back to normal, I looked around. We were in the Arcane Council, that I knew so far. It was a sort of circular room, which was surrounded by golems on every side. Peacemaker golems, I assumed. In the midst of the room stood - or better floated - seven settles made of stone, and they didn't look comfortable at all. Thus I wasn't surprised to see no one sitting on them, all asura that were present in this room stood together in small groups near the chairs or were absorbed in some kind of document. Until now, no one had seemed to recognized Zojjas and my arrival.

Above the settle ring floated a hexagonal thing, and from its center came a bright light. My assumption was that this was to illuminate the council, but I was not sure of that.

Zojja stepped forward into the council and I followed her like a dog his master. I was nervous, because I had no clue what Zojja had planned. She wouldn't just tell the council my true story; otherwise they would put me straight inside an asuran madhouse. But if she lied too much, they wouldn't believe her either.

"Zojja…" I whispered, "what exactly have you planned for us? Do we have a plan at all?"

"Szallejh. I am simply THE genius! I would hardly drag you along to the council if there was no such thing as a plan, would I?"

"Let's hope for that. What exactly are you going to tell them then?"

"That is simple. We..."

At this moment we were spotted by one of the council members, which approached us with arms wide open. "Aaah, golemancer Zojja! What a pleasure to see you!"

The asura was surprisingly ugly. His skin was of a light-grey through and through, with not the smallest touch of healthy color, and absolutely wizened. The ears slacked down and were ripped on the edges, and the eyes looked cold and somehow even evil. I definitely didn't like this guy.

"Council member Phlunt! The pleasure is all mine." Zojja purred with a voice sweet as sugar, but everyone could hear that her words were not meant honest at all. And she wanted Phlunt to hear that too, obviously. I intended to ask her later what had once happened between those two.

Phlunt turned to me and raised his eyebrows. "And who is... this?"

"This is my niece, Szallejh. She grew up outside Rata Sum, to be more exact in the Shiverpeaks. But she couldn't stand the snow anymore and therefore came to visit us in the jungle. And we are here now, because Szallejh would like to take out citizenship of Rata Sum, to live and to work here."

 _Hmm. Okay, That seems to sound credible. At least I hope so._

"Weeeell, _Szallejh_." I absolutely didn't like the way he pronounced my name. But at least no one had thrown me out so far, so there was a bit of hope left, that Zojja had thought about her plan well.

"What are your strengths so far? Which college do you belong to? Statics, Dynamics, or Synergetics?"

I struggled. I didn't know anything about one of these three colleges. I just readied myself to babble some kind of stupid answer, when another asura approached us.

"My ears, Zojja! Professor Canni just informed me that you have requested an audience in the Arcane Council."

Zojjas face brightened again a bit more. "My dear, that's high councilor Flax, the leader of the Arcane Council. He will hear our case soon and decide over your fate."

Same as Phlunt, Flax had already seen many years, but his skin was darker and looked way healthier and his hair was full and brown. On his forehead was a blue powerstone, possibly to take control over one or all of these peacemaker golems standing around us.

"High councilor Flax, this is my niece Szallejh. We're here today because of her."

"Well then, let's start with the audience!" Flax clapped his hands once and immediately a few other asura of both genders came together and took seats on the uncomfortably looking chairs. Zojja and I were indicated to take place in their mid, so we could stand with our faces towards Flax. _And with our backs towards Phlunt, which I don't like at all._

"You better leave the talking to me." Zojja whispered to me, just before high councilor Flax rose to speak.

"Excelsior! Esteemed members of the Arcane Council, welcome with me the well-known golemancer Zojja and her niece Szallejh." There was generally murmured _Excelsior_ around us. "So then Zojja, you have the right to claim your request."

Zojja spun the same yarn she had told Phlunt before with all her confidence, but this time with way more details. Though she illustrated me as the unlettered asura which I was at least, and reasoned that with the made-up fact that I had grown up with Norn and therefore didn't have the advantage of high education. She offered that all so persuasive, that even I would have believed her if I hadn't been in my own position right now.

"And now you're pleading the citizenship of Rata Sum." It was more a fact than a question, but I nodded approving.

High councilor Flax rose and threw a short glance around this circle. "The council will have to sit upon this case. We will inform you when we'll have come to a final conclusion."

Zojja thanked and lead me to the edge of the room, so we couldn't hear them and they wouldn't be able to hear us.

I stared at Zojja in disbelieve. "When did you have so much time to make up such a detailed story for me!?"

Zojja giggled like a little girl. "I am a genius, you forgot about that?"

I didn't know what to answer and just lifted an eyebrow. "What if they don't believe us?"

"They will, for sure. Councilor Flax trusts me. It's another thing with Phlunt, but there are still the other council members. I have a quite good relation with most of them, so they too will believe me. Though my sister won't be happy to hear that I am just attaching a child to her."

"So you do have a sister?"

"In fact, I do. And I wasn't lying when I said she lives in the Shiverpeaks. At least she did until a few years ago, I think she is stationed in the Sparkfly Fen by now. Admittedly she would never be the one to raise her child between those always drunk Norn! But no one here knows about that, right?"

"Zojja, you are an absolute genius. I owe you so much for that."

Zojja stopped me with the wave of her hand. "Well, I think it will be enough if you just visit Narru in time and inform her, that her beloved sister has attached a child to her!"

It was refreshing to see how much fun Zojja seemed to have by enjoying her made-up story to the fullest. Nevertheless a few very loud bells began to ring inside my head as I head the name. _Sparkfly Fen..._

"Wait a second, Zojja! Narru is your sister? Warmaster Narru!?"

A mischievous grin was the only answer. Zojja was just about to say something, when a young looking asura with two dark stiff braids stepped towards us. She was fully clothed in brown and orange and did look really friendly, as she said to Zojja: "The council has come to a decision. High councilor Flax requests you to step back to the circle to receive the judgment."

Zojja bowed slightly. "I thank you, councilor Zudo. Let's go."

We started moving, but quickly fell behind Zudo a few steps. I stared at Zojja with disbelieve and whispered: "You two have no similarities at all!" Shrugging, she answered: "Wherever you know Narru from. Only because she has some hair upon her head and I have not, you don't have to judge that hard."

I had to laugh so loud over this that Zudo turned to us obviously startled, and Zojja poked her elbow hard in my rips. But her glance definitely confirmed that she found our little conversation as funny as I did.

I had met Narru many times ingame, at least she was the one to lead the fight against Tequatl. I had always admired her and couldn't await a meeting with her in personal, as I now could see her in a completely different way. But Narru as Zojjas sister... _And if they believe Zojja she will also be your mother!_  
While trying to avoid another loud laughter, a strange squeak left my mouth, but luckily no one had seemed to notice.

 _Hey, so Zojja is my aunt now! How fast it can go._

The council already had taken their ordinary seats and Zudo lead us to the mid, so we again faced Flax. Phlunt stared at us with his evil eyes, and this time I had an even more bad feeling to have him in my back. I could feel it in my bones, how his cold claws reached after my neck to strangle me perfidiously.

"Golemancer Zojja and her niece Szallejh." Flax rose of his seat made of stone and nodded to both of us acknowledging. "The council has come to a decision."

An unpleasant silence spread through the room. Zojja stood there without any move; I wasn't able to read any emotion in her face. I questioned how she was able to be that calm, for I clearly was the opposite. I wanted to grip her hand and squash it, so hard was my heart pounding inside my chest. So much was depending on this decision!

"As you know, we all are great believers in you and your work. You have always been a good apprentice to Snaff, have honored his remembrance more than anybody has been able to with the Snaff-price you invented. You have made the life of so many asura way more easy with plenty of your inventions and you are on the verge of facing the elder dragon Zhaitan with your greatest invention until now. The council is honored to get in touch with one of your family members, and we really would appreciate to accede your request."

It couldn't have worked better! These words eased my heart and I saw that even Zojja exhaled with relief. Until I heard Phlunt clearing his throat behind me. I could swear that I was able to feel his nasty breath on my skin.

High councilor Flax scratched behind his war, and my heart, which had been light as a feather a few heartbeats ago, now had dived to the ground. _Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no!_

"But Council member Phlunt has made his reservations. He wants to err on the side of caution, because currently there are enough contretemps with inquest spies, and he wants to bring about another audience, with you and your sister."

My small bubble of hope burst into thousands of pieces. They didn't believe us. Or at least the council believed us, but not Phlunt. And he had been able to convince the others not to trust Zojja and me. Zojjas whole body was under tension, but that was all she let the others show of her inner tempestuousness and her rage against the council. Unlike her, I had no other chance and threw a quick glance upon my shoulder, just to see how Phlunt looked at us with the most dirty and most insidious grin I had ever seen.

I peered at the stony floor to my feet, trying not to show my disappointment and indignation to the people around us. My hands were shaking and all my blood got to my head. _How could someone ever possibly trust this story?  
_ What should I do now?

I was just thinking intensely about a plan B, when I heard Flax' calming voice again, and fitful lifted my head due to what he was saying.

"Therefore we determined to grant your niece a temporary permit of residence inside the city of Rata Sum, until all formalities with you and your sister are done. Szallejh is about to enjoy the privileges of a citizen of Rata Sum, until the last day of phoenix in the year 1326 NE is over. Until then we should be able to solve every open question concerning the citizenship. We'll warrant her an accommodation in the sleeping dorms of the college of synergetics, for this is the college of her aunt. By accepting the permit of residence, she obliges herself to appear in the Arcane Council whenever it is requested. And as long as she is no full-fledged member of Rata Sum, Zojja will vouch for everything Szallejh does."

So still a chance for me! I didn't know much about the asuran time reckoning, but as long as it was enough time to reconsider my plans, it would be enough. Not exactly what we did hope to get, but at least it was a start. Zojja and I grinned to each other for a brief moment and she squeezed my shoulder for a short, but incredibly precious moment.

"Here is your temporary badge." Flax gave me an oval, golden shining item that seemed similar to a police badge. Except there was not much on it, just a few numbers and a button right in the middle, which probably would reveal more details through a hologram. "You'll need that to get through all Asura-portals and to identify yourself whenever needed. Try not to lose it." I nodded thankfully.

High councilor Flax adjourned the meeting and formally dismissed us. Zojja took a bow, and I tried to do the same. Then Professor Canni lead us back to the teleporter, where she made her farewells less formal with a long hug she gave Zojja.

As we were back between ourselves, I too couldn't help myself and enfolded Zojja in my arms. She was surprised first, but she didn't push me off.  
"Thanks. Thank you so much... Aunty."

"Hey, nothing to thank for. But I wouldn't be that happy if I were you, to be portrayed as the dumb asura raised by norn." Zojja replied grinning and waved to the asura next to us, who was responsible for the teleporter.

"But what if they talk to Narru about this before we can reach her?" The doubts had grown inside my head after Flax had spoken about the urgency to clarify this issue with Narru herself. I was sure that Phlunt would use every little chance to get in our way.

Zojja shrugged. "They won't. The fewest asura know that Narru is my sister. We don't have the best... relationship, if you understand what I'm saying."

"And why are you so sure then that she will play the game with us?"

"She is my sister, after all. And not to forget that she still owes me a really big favor! So don't let it trouble you too much. This issue will be long solved before the council even knows who my sister is."

"Well then. Another question... High councilor Flax said I would have time until the end of Phoenix. How... How long is that?"

Zojja seemed to be confused for a short moment, but then it came back to her mind that I didn't originate from Tyria and therefore had no clue how the local calendar worked, let alone knew what day it was.

"See, today is the 36. day of the Phoenix, which means that you got 55 days left to get the citizenship of Rata Sum."

 _Nearly two months... That should be enough to at least build the foundations._ Furthermore did Flax mention the year 1326 and the fight against the Elder Dragon Zhaitan, meaning that the events in Tyria overlapped broadly with the events in game, and that the Pact had just formed his big alliance to kill the first Elder Dragon. I was just at the beginning of it all.

 _And you know things which you should definitely keep as a secret. If the events here really happen as in the game, then you will surely meet people of which you know that they will die over the years because of the fight against the dragons..._

I didn't like this thought at all. But maybe there were a few things happening otherwise here... Maybe it was possible to save at least a few lives...

"Well, well! Look who has got a norn in his capital city now." Phlunts voice cynically sounded behind me and made me wince so hard that I almost dropped the badge. To be on the safe side, I put the badge inside one of my pockets.

"Obviously no norn, but an asura." I answered as calm as possible, trying not to show how much this man sickened me.

"Obviously an asura with a norn's brain. How else should an asura think, who has lived together with these drunkards for the longest part of her life? You not even have graduated from one of the colleges! I suppose you will not even know how a proper monolithic integrated circuit works. You have no business here, skritt-brain."

 _Wasn't I anNorn-brain seconds ago?_

"You have lost, Phlunt. We got everything we wanted." Zojja now intervened. "And at least Szallejh knows how not to evoke hostility in the whole world within the blink of an eye. You should learn a thing or two from her."

"Pah, as if I would care. I will get you soon, Zojja. And your dense niece too. We will see us again, that I promise." Phlunt turned straightaway and disappeared in one of the side doors without saying any more words. Canni, which had watched the whole scene from the distance, just shook her head in disbelief and shrugged her shoulders in excuse.

Zojja laughed out bitterly and said, arms akimbo: "Congratulations, my dear. You've just got phlunted!"

"Hmpf. And it sounds as awkward as it feels."

An extremely tall asura had joined us and changed a few words with Zojja. Now he activated some buttons for the teleporter, causing a bar on the display filling itself more and more with green and building up an energy field around us. Zojja threw a questioning look towards me, whereupon I just nodded affirmative and readied myself to get teleported down to the city center.

* * *

Midday had just passed when we re-emerged on the main place of Rata Sum. The sky was still shining in his brightest blue, and the jungle air had reached its highest temperature by now. I wasn't quite sure if I would ever get used to this heat. But that did only play into my hands, because it made my childhood in the shiverpeaks way more credible.

"And what do we do now?" I asked Zojja.

"Well, I suggest we will split for the next step. I will talk to the dorm leader of the college of Synergetics and provide you a residence for the next weeks. And in the meantime you should get yourself an ample supply of clothes and whatever you'll need for living." Thereby she looked at me, screwing up her nose, as if she wanted to say that my clothes were not the most tidy and well-scenting anymore.

"How much gold do you have?"

I fumbled around in my moneybag and showed the content to Zojja. She inhaled in surprise and stared at the coins with big eyes. "My ears! Where in the Eternal Alchemy did you get so much gold?"

Shrugging, I just murmured "Seems like someone wanted me to have a good start."

Then I regarded my already well filled backpack somewhat skeptically. "How will I be able to carry all those things that I buy? The clothes alone will fill all the space, if it's enough therefore at all!"

Zojja only thought about this a few seconds. "You have way enough money to afford an upgrade for your bag." She grabbed my arm and led me to a merchant that not only sold weapons and armor pieces, but also a vast assortment of runes. "Just give me one gold coin."

"So much!?"

"It won't hurt you. And if we upgrade your backpack, then we'll do it the right way, won't we?"

I remained silent and gave my backpack to Zojja. While she was discussing the details with the merchant and kept an eye on his work, I looked around a bit on the market. Besides the merchant was a booth that sold clothes and shoes, and there was a big mirror too, the perfect opportunity for me to have a real look upon myself.

The person that awaited me seemed to be familiar, but on the other side was a complete stranger for me. The gray spots didn't just spread upon my arms, but they were in my face too, and my ears were absolutely tremendous! They hung down with shoulder-length, and when I concentrated, I was able to let the tips wiggle to and fro.  
My lips were full and exposed a row of neat and very sharp teeth when I smiled, and the almond eyes were of an intense green. Though my hair looked kind of chaotic in its knot, all in all what I saw was quite passable!

I had turned around a few times when Zojja suddenly appeared behind me and cleared her throat. "Your backpack." She passed the brown bag to me and I threw a curious glance inside. It seemed as if the space in the bags inside had increased by its tenfold! _Okay, I love magic. Absolutely._

"Hey, it is bigger on the inside!" I said and had to giggle because of the hint that no one else in Tyria would ever understand. At least it would be big enough to store a few proper clothes and shoes. _I wonder if the weight will still be that light with all the stuff in it?_

I strapped my rucksack on and discussed with Zojja that we would meet right here again, as soon as we both would have finished our matters. After that I would have some time to arrange myself and take a proper shower, and then I should start looking for a job. On the next day, Zojja wanted me to travel with her to the Sparkfly Fen, where we would talk with her sister.

"All right then, Szallejh. Take care of yourself and don't let the merchants squeeze too much money out of you!" Zojja waved goodbye and disappeared on one of the ramps that led to the inside of the cube.

I took a deep breath. First of all I needed some clothes. Conveniently, the perfect booth was right beside me.  
For some time I was busy with digging through the most diverse offerings, until I decided upon a few of them. Those required some black, brown and grey pants, several of them elaborately decorated, as well as a handful of colorful shirts that could be tied up at the neckline and especially the sleeves were beautifully laced. To this, I added two vests, both in a neutral blue-grey color and with some bags on the sides. Apart from the pair of shoes I was actually wearing I only bought one more pair, but I chose one that also covered the toes. You never knew when you would need something like that.  
Thereto I added some underwear and a few bands and clips for my hair. Due to my purchasing craze I caught a few frowns here and there, but I didn't care much. After all I needed all this, and as long as I was able to pay it, no one should try to get in my way.

I paid the coins, amazed that after all the stuff I had bought, the prize was still cheaper than one gold coin, and stuffed it all except the hair bands and clips inside my small backpack, which seemed to absorb everything like a black hole. I was even more relieved when I shouldered the backpack and noticed not even the slightest difference in weight.

Did I mention before that I loved magic?

Again, I placed myself in front of the mirror and unraveled the knot, so my hair reached down to my hips. I could hear an asura whistling behind me, which made me smile.  
With the help of the bands, I bundled the greater part of my hair to a long braid, but I skipped two small strands of hair on both sides in the front, which I attached with one clip each. This way it looked way better than the strange knot, which had been on the brink to unloose itself anyway.

I paced about over the market place for a while, while I bought some peanuts here and there that weren't indispensable, but I still wanted to own them. The sun was low already when I decided to finish my shopping and to go back to the weapon merchant. Zojja was already there and made conversation with a group of asura, which wore the symbol of the college of Synergetics. Most likely students that asked Zojja for a device of something.

Zojja closed the conversation when she saw me, and the asura disappeared in the crowd, still discussing their issue.

"So, did you get everything you needed?"

"I think so. And even if not, the market place is not that hard to find, so I can come back every time I want. And how did you do?"

"I was able to negotiate a little. You'll get your room; the only thing I have to do is just give a few symposia concerning the ramifications of bloodstone magic to its environment. It could be worse, if you ask me."

"Zojja, you're a genius!"

"That's what I already said, didn't I?"

Our conversation went along that way for a bit, while Zojja led me down some ramps. Though here was no daylight, gleaming energy fields everywhere were fed by arcane energy and the hustle down here could definitely keep up with the one on the surface. The only difference was that on the lower levels were no pitchmen screaming, but lab on lab was strung together, everywhere was the sound of screaming, swearing, clanking and rattling. Students sat or stood around in small groups and conferred with each other about ongoing tests, and on every corner did asura give most diverse lectures. Golems buzzed around the passageways, delivered packages or urgent messages from lab to lab. Children ran around our feet, playing tag or trying to fool the peacemaker golems.

"That I call live."

"Get used to it, it doesn't look much better at night. You will hear that even inside your room. The noise is mostly the reason why you only see laboratories around here and no living rooms. Nobody wants to live inside this chaos, except the students that don't have enough money for a proper flat and anyway have a shorter way to their college. "

"Well, that sounds promising."

One last ramp led down, and it seemed that we had reached the lowermost level by now. At least I couldn't make out any more ramps down, and even the light from the energy fields seemed to be less gleaming.

We stopped in front of a big stony gate and were greeted by the gate keeper, a quite good looking asura with scaringly tattered ears. "Excelsior! You will be Zojjas niece, as I suppose?" I nodded.

"My name is Klakk. Responsible for the dorms of the college of Synergetics. Follow me. You are lucky, one of the newly refurbished rooms just got available. Once again an asura that graduated premature with just 13 years." He shook his head in disbelieve. "Those progenies nowadays..."

"Saved by the bell." Zojja whispered, "many students propel supreme dubious experiments in their rooms, that's why some of them had to get refurbished not long ago. You could have just as well landed in one of these acid-corroded, with chaos monsters infested rooms."

Klakk led us to one door quite near the gate and indicated me to step inside. The door had not been locked; hopefully there was a key at all.

The room was nothing more and nothing less than I had expected. Windowless, with energy fields above my head and filled with the steady buzzing of the ventilation system. A for asuran standards fair-sized hammock (floating of course), a bedside cabinet, a desk and a wardrobe, that was all the room had to offer.

"You'll find the cleansing rooms at the end of the hallway left, the cooking premises on the right. Please try not to leave too much work to our cleansing golems." He thrust a key into my hand, said goodbye and left.

"A real student digs, eh?"

Zojja laughed. "It will do for the start. Wait a while, maybe you'll get hired by a krewe some day and earn enough money to buy your own apartment. At least you will be spared the common rooms then."

"I suppose I got bigger problems at this moment than a common shower." I said laughing, threw my rucksack on the hammock (which luckily was already equipped with pillows and blankets, because I didn't think about stuff like this while I had been shopping), and got some clothes ready that I wanted to take on after having a shower. The rest I arranged inside the wardrobe, which unfortunately was as big from the inside as from the outside.

"Very well... You got your temporary permit of residence, a room, and something acceptable to put on. Now refresh yourself and keep your ears open for someone who maybe has got some work for you."

"And what about you?"

"I have other things to do, but don't worry. I will catch you up right here tomorrow morning, and then we'll give my sister the pleasure of a surprise visit! But before that I have to ensure that those blockheads don't want to blow up my laboratory again. That's when you leave for just half a day..."

* * *

With the bunch of fresh clothes under my arms I went to the cleansing rooms, even if I couldn't really imagine what would await me there. On my way I encountered many asura of most different ages, though most of them seemed to be younger than me, but the fewest took notice of their surroundings.

The hallway was quite long, I counted around 50 doors each side, whereby occasionally smaller corridors lead to the sides. _I wonder how many students will live here?_

At the end of the corridor the way parted to left and right; I chose the left one. Now I could choose between three doors: One door with the wave symbol (that I had already identified as a toilet symbol), one door with a cloud symbol and one with waterdrops. Latter seemed most promising for me, and since I couldn't make out symbols for gender segregation, I opened the door.

Hot damp approached me and disguised my view for a moment, and the whole room seemed to gleam in an unnatural blue. Against the wall stood several tubes that were faintly reminiscent of shower cabins. Some of them stood open, while I could make out the shadows of asura in the others. Right now one of the cabins was opened and a completely naked asura stepped out. He didn't seem to be upset by the fact that all the other asura could see every centimeter of his body, and as cool as a cucumber went to a pile of clothes, that laid upon a bench besides the wall. I constrained myself not to stare too blatant and likewise searched for a place on the bench, as far away as possible from the male asura, then I put down the new clothes and began to undress myself.

In the corner of my eye I saw another female asura that threw a bundle of cloth in a small cabinet, that started to buzz thereupon and showed a countdown on the display. Some kind of washing machine, I supposed, exactly what I needed right now.

I felt kind of uncomfortable running around in this room completely naked, while others could look at me, but no one else seemed to be offended. Apparently asura had no such distinctive sense of shame like humans did.

I threw my old clothes in one of the cabinets beside me and pressed the green buttons. Immediately, the machine was recalled to life and green letters counted down from 100. Though I didn't wait for it to be done, but I turned to one of the placards on the wall, that said "Rules for using the PeDACUR - cleansing capsules." Underneath was explained short and crisp how to start the _Personal Decontamination And Cleansing Utility Room_ cleansing process and that neither acid, nor some kind of waste had something to lose inside the PeDACUR. Whereas I had no intention of destroying something, I just wanted to feel clean again.

Carefully I stepped inside a free capsule and the door slowly closed automatically with a hiss. All around me was white milk glass, so I couldn't look outside, and the bottom was rough to avoid danger of slipping. Although the capsule was not wet or rudimentally dampish, what made me wonder.

Shrugging, I activated the button that should start the process, and immediately I was doused by a stream of warm water. I was amazed that the water had just the right temperature for me: not tot cold and not too hot. With relish I straightened myself up under the stream, kneaded my hair a bit and sighed with relief. That was exactly what I needed right now. The water was glowing in the unnatural blue that I had recognized before, as the washing bowl back in the tavern had been glowing this way too. I decided to confront Zojja the next day and ask her what exactly this stuff was. But it didn't seem to be bad, if anything.

Way too fast the stream stopped and a buzz filled the cabin. That was the second step: Decontamination and cleansing via low-leveled arcane energy. This removed whatever kind of dirt still remained after the stream, and at the same time dried my skin and the cabin. My body felt warm to the core, though the energy wasn't enough to completely dry my hair.

Eventually even the buzzing faded away and the door opened with its faint hissing. Absolutely happy I stepped out of the cabin, ran my fingers through my still dampish hair and grabbed one of the towels that were placed upon one of the shelves, to dry the last locations that the PeDACUR hadn't reached.

After that I threw the towel in one dedicated basket, or at least I supposed it was dedicated because of some other already used towels inside, and then I slipped in my clothes that luckily weren't stolen by someone in the meantime. I did my hair like I had done before, then I opened the cabinet with my old clothes, whose counter had reached zero in the meantime. The clothes were clean, dry and most of all did they smell sweet. And all that within a few minutes.

 _Asura and their technique, surprises me again and again._

I folded the old clothes neatly, so they would not crumple again, and went back to my room. There I emptied out the last things that had been in my backpack and decided to arrange the room more individual within the next days. So far it seemed rather bleak and spineless.

I couldn't remember when I last had been this happy when I locked my room and rambled through Rata Sum. The sun had completely disappeared by now, but the inside of the cube was still ablazed with light. Some of the labs were dark and closed by now, but most of them had apparently nightshifts still working. Therefore most of the taverns and bars were now open, and many asura swarmed to those places this evening.

In passing I memorized the taverns that seemed most appealing, later this evening I would ask if someone there could use a helping hand.

And when I woke up the next morning, I would have a permit of residence, a room and - hopefully - a job.


	6. Chapter 5 - Cold Feet

**Chapter 5 - Cold Feet**

I was rudely awakened by a loud bang. The walls were vibrating so hard that I rolled out of my hammock in shock and came down ungently on the cold floor. _Well, a wonderful good morning to you!_

I rubbed my head in confusion and peeled myself out of the blanket to go after the source of that strange noise. The floor outside seemed to be the sheer pandemonium, I could hear trampling and screaming, and that all in such a volume, as if it occurred just in front of my door. On the fly I slipped my shirt over and opened the door.  
Indeed, dark green smoke clouds were billowing out of the door right beside mine and a myriad of asura stood around and were gawking at the spectacle. Most of them weren't dressed more appropriate than I, presumably they had been shaken out of their sleep just the same.

I consorted with an asura who grinned like a Cheshire cat, because he stood next to me. He wore nothing more than short pants and revealed a body that was traversed by black blotches everywhere. His ears were sticking out on both sides, but his eyes were the most astonishing about him: One eye was green, the other one red. It would have been creepy, if I hadn't seen other asura with uncommon eye colors before.

"What has happened here?" I mumbled, while turning to him, and his sneer grew even wider. His amazing eyes still attached to the smoky room, he said: "Ah, Poll couldn't stop himself from experimenting in his room and this time he seems to have compounded an exceedingly explosive concoction - again. Inconceivable, that they still allow him to live here. This is already the third time in just one week!" He shook his head in disbelieve, then turned his eyes to me.  
"Excelsior. I am Kekk. You're new here, aren't you? Have never seen you before. And believe me, I _would_ recognize those ears!"

I stroke my ear uncertainly, not quite sure if it was meant as a compliment or not. "Eh... Thanks? I suppose?" I cleared my throat. "Yes, I just got to Rata Sum yesterday. Szallejh."

"Hah. And how did you get taken on by the Synergetics college? The qualifying examinations get more sophisticated year by year, if you ask me. If I compared my exams to my brother's back then... And mine have been five years ago! Phew, I really commiserate the next year's students."

I blushed and was glad that Kekks gaze went back to Poll's room, from which a coughing asura was staggering out of, his hair completely scorched, cursing and furiously weaving the smoke away.

"I, ehm... I don't attend any of the colleges. At least... not yet. I suppose the best will be to earn some money on more conventional ways, until I even dare to think about attending a college."

Kekk stared at me in surprise. "Oh, is that so? Quite courageous. The fewest crews are hiring asura without any educational degrees."

I just shrugged. "I will find something. Somehow."

Poll had calmed down a little and was now reassuring all the bystanders that the eerie green smoke was not poisonous in any way, and just then two piecemakers bursted into the hallway and demanded an answer for this turmoil. They calmed down however when they saw Poll, apparently it happened occasionally that Poll blew up something inside the dorm. Well, well, look who happens to be your new neighbour!

"Excelsior. Poll, you will tidy up this chaos and then follow us. Klakk slowly but surely fears about the persistence of his dorms and he urges to have an urgent conversation with you."

Kekk snickered. "Uh-oh, now he is going to be thrown out for sure!"

One of the piecemakers turned around and spoke to all the spectators who had gathered. "Nothing to see here. Move along, folks, go to your rooms or wherever you want to go, but don't obstruct the hallway any longer."

"Pfff. Not exactly friendly for a piecemaker", I commented and opened the door to my room.

Kekk bid farewell with a short wave. "See ya, long-eared!" He winked at me again and disappeared in the masses.

* * *

The noise died away immediately as I let the door shut. With a sigh I lifted the blanket from the floor, folded it and put it back on the floating hammock. By now I was wide awake without doubt and I didn't even attempt to lie myself down again. The more so as Zojja certainly would soon be waiting for me outside. Until then I wanted to be dressed at the very least.  
In a hurry I slipped in the same clothes I had worn yesterday evening. They were neither dirty nor did they smell bad, so I would be able to wear them one more day.  
Combing my hair was much more hassle, they had snarled up to a big untamable mess while I had been sleeping so I had difficulties to unravel the knots. Furthermore I was still lacking a mirror in my room, so I noted it on my mental shopping list right away.

After what seemed like ages I had reached the point where I could put my hair in a ponytail, so I wouldn't be interfered by loose strands all the time. I threw a last glance down my appearance, then I shouldered my backpack and left the room.

* * *

Zojja was already waiting for me when I came back from the cleaning rooms.

"Excelsior, my dear! How has your night been?"

"Calm would not quite describe it. I hope it doesn't occur every day that some asura is trying to blow up his room."

Zojja laughed. "Concerning that, I can't promise you anything. Are you ready? The Sparkfly Fen awaits us!"

"And how exactly will we get there, if I may ask?"

The Sparkfly Fen was not quite situated nearby Rata Sum, and I was afraid that a really long and really burdensome march was just lying ahead. Unless there were portals except those in Lions Arch I couldn't remember. Zojjas glimpse let me fear the worst.

"We will take the portal to Lions Arch and thenceforward go afoot through the Bloodtide Coast to Sparkfly Fen. Sorry about that, but I'm afraid this is the fastest way. But providing that our journey will be uneventful, we could already arrive this evening."

 _Great! And it was just early in the morning._

I sighed. "Well then, let's go, so we won't have to spend the night in the marshes."

I had just began to move when my stomach was rumbling so loud that even the Asura in the surrounding rooms must have heard it.

Zojja gave me a lopsided sneer with her sharp teeth. "First of all we should get something for breakfast. You already forgot about that? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

I followed Zojja up the ramps, until we arrived on the surface of the cube. As yesterday so today there was utter chaos, the level of noise hardly allowed a proper conversation and I really had problems not to lose sight of Zojja in this mess.

She led me to the hall of Synergetics college, on the right wall of which stood few tables and chairs out of stone. Many of them were already taken, but I could make out a few free seats here and there. Ahead of that stood something like a kiosk, on which one could probably buy his breakfast. And that was exactly where Zojja was heading.

The smell of fried bacon and eggs reached my nostrils, when we waited in the queue. Now more than ever I recognized how hungry I really was. Again.

The students in front of us were intensively chatting about the fact, what synergy of elements and energy was needed to create every single one of us, and, seen from this angle, that we all represented a cosmic event in the bigger picture. It was interesting to listen to these two, but their conversation sadly was interrupted as they both ordered their breakfast and went to one of the tables in the back shortly after, so I couldn't follow their discussion any longer.

Now it was our turn to get our meal. The asura in the kiosk wore a classic cook outfit with a chef's cap that was actually way too big for him, but it suited him amazingly well. He seemed to be quite young, with brown hair that stuck out on every side and friendly brown eyes, even if his nose appeared too clunky on the scale of things. Cheerfully he turned bacon strips on a heating plate and scooped time after time scrambled eggs into small bowls. Once he saw us his facial expression lightened up even a bit more.

"Aah, good morning, Zojja!"

"Excelsior, Bromm. A cook as mettlesome as ever, as I see."

"I can't let the poor Synergetics students starve to death, can I?" He joked and then took our order. Even though he had much more on offer, I eventually decided to take the eggs with bacon.

Zojja paid, and while she gathered the right amount of coins, I wondered how much a genius like her would earn. She had been the one inventing the mega lasers, and they were used almost everywhere, weren't they? And soon enough her weapon would lead the pact to its final victory over Zhaitan...

"Zojja, why don't you introduce the beauty you have brought with you?"

I literally could feel the blood rushing to the tips of my ears and grinned hesitantly.

"This is my niece Szallejh. She's been in Rata Sum since yesterday, so have patience with her." She patted my shoulder and attempted to say more, but one asura behind us complained about us blocking the kiosk for all the other hungry students.  
Bromm only shrugged in excuse and gave us a big grin while we cleared the way for the others.

We took a seat on one of the stone benches and enjoyed our breakfast, which really tasted extraordinarily good. Whoever this Bromm had been, he seemed to be the greatest cook in whole Tyria.

"There are still a few things I will have to get used to. " I mumbled with a mouth full of eggs while I watched a couple of asura discussing so vigorous that they almost broke their skulls.

"Which would be?"

Just now, the male asura had slapped the face of his female companion, and it really must have hurt, because it immediately brought tears into her eyes.

"Well, at first the rooms that are going to explode in my neighborhood time after time. And on the other hand, that asura obviously have no sense of shame when it comes to compliments."

He tried to apologize extensively, and as much as I could judge he did this in a very convincing way. But she seemed to see that quite differently, and crimson-faced she bashed her empty bowl on the head of his companion, so hard that at least one of them would have had to burst.  
Luckily, both the asuran heads and Bromms eating utensils were stable enough for disputes like this one.

Zojja laughed. "You'll get used to it soon enough. To both of it. What do you mean how many wedding proposals _I_ have got in my life? Either from asura that desperately wanted to marry a prominence like me, or acquaintances that were so addled because of their latest achievement, that in this euphoria, they were unaware of what they were saying."

The female asura now sprang to her feet, swore her head off a few seconds and then ran past us to the outside, and I sure could make out a few more tears.

"And you denied all of them."

"Pah, of course I did! Who on this planet needs... What are you staring at all the time, actually!?"

Zojja cast a short glance over her shoulder, but she had missed the spectacle. The asura that had been left behind had sunk down on his bench and was rubbing his head. At least he would carry away an enormous bump.

"Ah, nothing. I have just studied the surroundings."

* * *

After we had finished our breakfast, Zojja brought back the dishes to the kiosk and then led me to an obviously highly desired portal, judging from the many asura that wanted to go through. On the way there, I told Zojja about the job offer I had got yesterday evening. The diner imaginatively was called "Aquatarium", what indeed correlated with its seating possibilities being right at the aquaria of Rata Sum and people therefore had a quite good view of its underwater world. Furthermore even the kitchen was open, so they also could watch the cook preparing all the meals.  
In two weeks the current waitress would join the Durmand Priory in the Shiverpeaks, and therefore had an asura named Elynnja - the diner's owner - gladly occupied me the position.

Zojja shrugged her shoulders. "Might not be the best dinner in Rata Sum. But it means money at least, and it is impossible that you could act more clumsy than the actual waitress."

Well, that was the encouragement I asked for.

We entered the queue in front of the portal, and while we progressed inch by inch I thought about how I would spend the next two weeks until I would start the job.

* * *

"What is your request in Lion's Arch?" A grumpy-looking portal guard asked me when I was the next in line.

"Just passing by, nothing else."

"So no criminal intentions, murder, sabotage, thievery?"

"Eeh.. I guess, no."

"Good. Your badge, please."

I gave her the badge, slightly confused, she scanned it and instructed me with a nod to step through the portal. Zojja was spared formalities, I assumed she was known well enough and didn't need to get controlled every single time.

 _This will be the only portal on our journey. Lucky me._

We stepped through the portal and the hot jungle air instantly was replaced by the fresh, salty smell of Lion's Arch and the sea. I needed a moment to adjust to the new circumstances and then I looked around. We stood on a huge plaza that was lined with dozens of portals. Everywhere in front of these were placed guards, and just now two children, a human and a charr cub, passed by with kites, laughing out loud and taking the advantage of the wind, which waved through the streets of Lion's Arch. They were hushed away by a fierce Lionguard, but that didn't seem to harm their good mood in any way.

"Wow! Where do all these portals lead to?" I asked Zojja, marveling, while she guided me across the plaza.

"In all big cities of Tyria. Hoelbrak, Divinity's Reach, even the Priory. Important places. I would love to give you a tour around Lion's Arch, but we don't have the time to. Like you know, I want to arrive at Narru's this evening. You are free to book a tour on your way back, if you are obsessed with pirates and scofflaws... And now, hurry!" _At least I know now where in Lion's Arch we currently are._

Zojja waved me through a stone-made gate and rushed through Lion's Archs streets, and her speed made it impossible for me to throw further looks at the city. Even if it seemed quite chaotic, I found it beautiful in its very own way. The buildings were most various constructs, it was obvious that many different races had been involved in rebuilding the city. It all had started with Cobiah Marriner, a Charr named Sykox and a quite colorful asura named Macha, so far I knew. And with the years passing by there had come many many more: Skritt, Hylek, humans, Norn. They all had immortalized their unique finger print in this city.

We passed streets that were lined with palms, across shady merchants, children, guards and arguing couples. Zojja led me up wide stony steps and over a bridge, and even its borders were cropped with buildings, up to another portal-lined plaza. This one was crowded mostly with warriors, armed to their teeth and obviously more than ready to lose their life in combat.

"Here are the portals to the mists." Zojja commented, and that seemed to be enough as an explanation for her. I would have asked more, but I had already run out of breath.

But instead of crossing the plaza, Zojja led me through an unremarkable opening in the wall, so we walked around. And on that way, which was directly near the sea, we had an amazing view over Lion's Arch, and I really wished to have more time so I could take a look on everything. But as soon as I stopped for even one tiny second, Zojja had already pulled me further. Enormous cannons all over the way made it clear that Lion's Arch would never be an easy city to capture, neither for undead, dragons nor other enemies.

In front of us now stretched kind of a gorge, it's soaring cliffs standing quite close to each other, leaving only enough space for two, maybe three travelers side by side. I couldn't make out the exit, but judging by the Dolyak caravans passing through the gorge, this seemed to be the way to the Bloodtide Coast.

I felt uncomfortable while walking beneath the cold shadow of the stones, but Zojja tried to calm me. "it's a short way to the other side, and because the path is leading upwards, the cliffs won't seem that dangerous for you much longer."

And she was right, after a few minutes we already walked in sunshine again and I could make out water in the distance. But just yet my feet were hurting so hard that I couldn't imagine how I should ever survive the journey in this pace.  
As we reached the exit of the gorge, Zojja headed for a small camp that was set up in the proximity of the shore. A woman in Lionguard uniform greeted Zojja friendly and indicated me to make a short rest. I took the offer without hesitating, dumped down ungallantly on my backside and scrubbed my hurting feet.

"Don't worry, today morning after breakfast I hit on an idea that will surely shorten our journey and will definitely make it less uncomfortable! It's true, a balanced breakfast increases the cogitation many times over!"

Shorter and more comfortable? Sounded like a promising plan - most of all for my feet.

"Zojja! How are you doing?"

"Splendid, Tunnira. You remember the megalaser I told you about? The prototype was more than successful, and my invention will bring us all the victory over Zhaitan!"

"I'm sure it does. But tell me, what brings you here?"

Zojja grinned mischievously and threw a short side glance at me.

"My... niece and I are on our way to Sparkfly Fen. But we have to get there as fast as possible, and last time you told me about a cockleshell that you use to get to the isles..."

The woman, Tunnira burst into laughter. "I understand. And as much as I see this would be an ease for your niece. Of course, take it! I still owe you a favor anyway. Authen will bring you to your destiny fast and save."

While she called for a sylvari in similar armor, Zojja gave her thanks to Tunnira and slipped her some silver coins. The sylvari received Tunniras commands without complaining and led us to a tiny wooden boat that had been pulled to the shore not far from the camp.

"Good morning, ladies! It's your lucky day, the Splintered Coast is easy to reach if you travel by water. But it won't be a holiday trip with our vehicle, the waters are turbulent here and there and in bad times this lands are teeming with Krait."

"We will manage with that. Let's go, we don't have much time."

* * *

Authen was absolutely right about the holiday trip. Though it would have been way more exhausting to run all the way that we now mastered by boat, but it took me only a couple of minutes to swear that I would never again step onto a boat after this day. My face had turned completely green and more than once my head disappeared behind the other side of the railing, what caught me pitiful glances from my companions every time.  
 _If I only had spared the breakfast._

But the real action of our journey started when we left the territories of Bloodtide Coast and immerged in the larger waters of Sparkfly Fen. Authen told us that the lake we passed was called _Ocean's Gullet_ , and from there we would pass the Leeshore Gauntlet and finally we would reach our destination at the Splintered Coast. Although the passage over the lake was essentially more calm and gave back my normal face color, there was now another, way bigger problem appearing: _Krait._

Of course we had been warned, but when the first of that beasts appeared in front of our boat, I screamed out like a little girl and tried to hide in the backmost corner of our vehicle. It didn't help that the Krait had brought a fellow conspecific, who of course attacked us from behind - and scaled slippery claws that clung round my neck were even more horrible than Phlunts breath, that had caused me much discomfort back then.

Again I screamed out and dealt out blows to all sides without control, in the hope that this would discourage the unwanted parasite, but to make matters worse, it only tightened the grip of its claws. My only salvation was Zojja, who, after she had swiftly cast a whispered spell, threw a giant fireball at the Krait, that hit him in the midst of his chest and hurled his now lifeless body back into the waves. I should have been grateful, but the fireball had also grazed my arm and I was too busy with roaring curses and complaining about the pain to acknowledge her help.

Meanwhile Authen had dealt with the second Krait, which now was bleeding out of various spear wounds and crashed onto the bottom of our boat. Authen finished him off and then heaved the heavy corpse back into the water.  
He clapped his hands and stroke his leaves out of his face, as if there had never been a fight seconds ago. I still sat in my corner, huddled and shivering, and clenched to my hurting arm. Zojja sighed and knelt beside me. "I'm sorry that it got you too. But this has been the only way to catch that beast."

Shrugging I mumbled a _It's okay_. At least I was alive and those two Krait were not, that was worth something.

"I have never specialized in healing, but there are still a few basic spells I preside over, I'm sure they will help you."

Zojja imposed her right hand on my wound, ignored my painful hiss and mumbled a few words that I didn't understand, while she held her eyes closed. With disbelieve I stared on her hand that now began to glow in a light blue, and it felt like water jets flowing out of her fingers and circling around my arm. With an uneasy feeling these water jets seemed to blaze their trail through my burnt flesh and after Zojja took back her hand she only left a big reddened circle, that reminded me more of a bad sunburn than a real burning.

"Wow! How did you...?"

"Elementalists, dear. I may not be specialized on water, but every elementalist should manage to cast some basics. And besides, I am a genius, you forgot about that?"  
She gave me a wink and ordered Authen to resume paddling.

For the rest of the passage I was compelled to sit in the mid of the boat, but I was thankful for that, because the Krait attack had been nowhere near the last one.

We had to be on our way since many hours now, because the sun had long transcended its zenith. Around midday we had made a short break on the shore and had bought some cheap food rations from a grumpy looking human woman, which we ate right where we were. I really enjoyed the break, since a total of five Krait had already fell a victim to Authen and Zojja, while I had huddled in the boat like a scared dog. Luckily we got off all fights easy except the first one, which Authen justified with saying that the other Krait had been alone on the one side and had underestimated the strength of such a tiny boat on the other.  
But way too soon our break had come to an end and before I knew what was happening, I had sat in our small vehicle once again.

Now that the first gleams of red and purple became visible in the sky, we approached a swampy area that not only smelled horribly, but it's floor was also covered with craters and remains of fires.

"What on earth has happened here...?" I mumbled more to myself, while I tried to ignore the stench as good as possible.

"Welcome to the heart of the Sparkfly Fen, the Splintered Coast. Do you see the lab in the distance? That's where we'll find Narru. The craters all emerged while the many attacks of Tequatl, who still didn't give it up to attack this land now and then, even though there were massive throwbacks on both sides. And his undead minions are being burnt, so they won't dare to rise ever again."

This thought made me goosebumps. Hopefully the conversation with Narru wouldn't take too long, so we could get away from this horrible land as soon as possible.

"I know exactly what you think." Zojja stared at me with a serious glance. "Even if our timing is good, we will stay here over night. I won't dare to pass these waters by night!"

And again I could see my hopes burst like bubbles. Well, at least the lab seemed to be a safe place and wouldn't get attacked by Krait at night. Would it...?

* * *

Together with Authen I pulled the boat as far out of the shores as necessary so the waves wouldn't pull it back into the sea, and tied it up to a withered small tree with almost all its leaves having taken on a grayish color.

Zojja didn't bother to wait for us, so I had to run the whole way to catch up with her. That proved itself harder than I thought because of the perforated sand floor, and more than once I stumbled with my arms fumbling over surface irregularities, stones and twigs blocking the way over and over. Until I catched up with Zojja, my toes were covered with scratches and the shoes were full of sand, and that made the running even more complicated.

"You are toddling like a duck." Zojja laughed when she recognized me on her side. "Even if you don't have the most elegant gait in other ways as well, to be honest."

I snorted. "It's not that easy to walk if you're suddenly missing two toes!"

Before the discussion could escalate, another asura was hurrying out of the lab and stared at our small group with something, that I couln't quite make out - surprise or doubt.  
She had glowing green eyes, coppery hair that was bound together to a tail, and small pointy ears that stuck upwards. She was dressed in full armor, a mix of mithril plates and leather ornaments. Attached on her back was a suitable and very dangerous looking longbow made of steel. In my eyes she embodied _the warmaster_ as such.

"My ears, Zojja! What are you doing here? The last time I've seen you was shortly after the disbandment of destiny's edge!"

A painful expression covered her eyes for a tiny moment, but it disappeared so fast that I wondered if I hadn't just imagined it. "Excelsior, Narru. I'm fully aware that we did not exactly part the most peaceful way. Still I need your help and want to call in the favor you still owe me."

"It was you in a matter of fact that started the conflict last time, and then just disappeared out of town." Narru said with her arms crossed. "But well, you're right. I still owe you something. So, what is it? And who's that person with you?"

"Is there a possibility to talk somewhere uninterrupted?" Zojja threw a glance at Authen, who understood immediately and returned to the boat without complaining.

"In my office we will be undisturbed, as long as the lab isn't just attacked by Krait. The krewe of United Arcanists will take care of all the other problems."

I didn't dare to ask what she could have meant with _other problems_ , so I followed Narru without saying a word upwards stony stairs and through a heavy door made of steel, which led us into a dimly lit room. Narru closed the door behind us and activated some light sources on the top so the room was aflame with unsteady blue light. The room itself was filled with bookshelves and some lab tables, on which various experiments bubbled away, and in the midst stood a slender office table that was covered in documents.  
After Zojja and I had taken seats opposite to Narru and Narru had offered us some drink that obviously smelled like rum, the warmaster pushed some documents aside with her forearm and stared at us questioning. "Well then, go for it."

For a long time Narru just watched us in silence, after Zojja had ended. She sighed loud and stroke back a strand of hair that had gone loose from her tail.

"Are you aware of what you are demanding from me, Zojja? Why is this asura so important to you?"

Zojja nodded. "That I am. Szallejh is... someone special. I can't explain it in detail, but believe me when I say that she is full of potential. Please, Narru. Without you she is chanceless towards the council."

"We could have never possibly defeated Tequatl that thoroughly without your megalaser. This time he will need a long time to recover, until he will be able to attack our coast again - and then we will await him with the laser and kill him. I owe you much for this. But I don't know if I can grant you this favor."

Though Zojja had told me before to leave the speaking to her, she now signaled me with a now that I was allowed to speak, after I had asked for it with my eyes.

"Narru... I know that it is a hard decision for you. But you don't incur any liabilities. I don't require any gold and you won't notice a big difference. Though you will officially have a daughter then, but I will keep my nose out of your life, exactly like you can disassociate yourself from me. Nobody will make you accountable for things I may do. All we want from you is to confirm towards the council, what Zojja has told you earlier. That's all."

"My sister is a genius. Her story is quite trustworthy, and there is almost no counter evidence. While I had been stationed in the Shiverpeaks I only talked to a few Vigil, and most of them have fallen in the fight against the dragons by now. Nobody could deny that I have given birth to a child in that time... Though I would have never passed it on to some Norn!"

Zojja laughed faintly. "What would you have done otherwise? Vigil have too much pride to abandon their duty ahead of time, whatever solid reasons there may be. Even I know so much. And to take a newborn onto a patrol? Please! Not even a norn would have such a stupid idea. In your case it would have been the only opportunity to consign the nearest village to care of your child while you're patrolling with your squad! This way no one will scrutinize the lack of knowledge and the sometimes weird manners."  
She patted my arm encouraging, but I already knew that Zojja didn't say that as an insult. It was a matter of fact that I had absolutely no clue of asura. But I was bound and determined to improve my knowledge in the next weeks.

"Of course." Narru mumbled, and I wondered if she referred to the norn village or to my lack of knowledge.

She stood up ponderously and arranged some documents to her left. "Well then, I will do it. But this will repay the debt for once and for all, Zojja!"

My heart took a leap, like back then when the council had granted me permit of residence. But before I could open my mouth to thank Narru, the door behind us was torn open and a heavily breathing full-armored asura stormed inside, his face covered in blood.

"What the...?" Narru started furious, but the asura didn't give her the time to speak.

"Krait..." He took a deep breath. "Krait are attacking the lab. They are after the energy storage units!" He had barely finished the sentence when screams resonated behind him and he ran outside, a shortsword in one hand and a big, magically glowing shield in the other.

Narru didn't hesitate a second. Instantly she grabbed her bow and a quiver full of arrows which had been leant against the wall and followed the asura to the outside, without paying attention to us any longer.

"What should we do now, Zojja?" I asked in slight panic and disbelief, because I was so much fed up with Krait.

"What do you think, genius? We fight! Wield your weapon and out you go!" That said, she too disappeared to the lab entrance, and meanwhile the scattered screams had turned into a genuine war turmoil. Weapon clang against weapon, both Krait and asura were screaming in pain. With shivering hands I loosened the hammer from the backpack and clutched it with both hands. Now that there was a real fight approaching - no single Krait that could be killed with ease by Zojja or Authen, but a whole organized troop of them - it seemed incredibly heavy for me.

Hesitantly I left the room and paced down the stone steps, my gaze entranced by the scene that ran its course.  
Almost two dozen Krait had convened around the lab and were now trying to destroy the energy storage units that were lighthearted humming away. The krewe of United Arcanists, who granted the Vigils that had been stationed here shelter in their lab, was made of maximum ten asura. But they seemed to have experience being confronted by Krait, even though not this many. They all wore battle-scarred weapons and knew obviously how to wield them.

I could make out Narru in the distance while she tried to protect the storage units that were most far away. Four krait circled around her, and because her longbow wasn't made for melee fight, she had swapped to a dagger, which blade glowed in an unhealthy green. Venom, I supposed. But the majority was on the Krait's side, and even though Narru absolutely deserved her title, the beasts got to inflict her more and more scratches and increasingly bigger wounds.

But the tide turned when Zojja send one of the Krait, who had leapt at her, to kingdom come with a fireball, and became aware of Narrus hairy situation. Instantly she cast a spell that did not only cover her, but two of the Krait attacking Narru in lightning and hurled them away a fair way off. Narru took the advantage of this distraction and finished off the Krait right in front of her, the other one went hurtling towards Zojja, but he never reached her because of her lightning.

The both Krait in the distance were finished by Narru with two precise shots and Narru then stripped of a stripe of her skirt to tape up a heavy bleeding wound on her arm. I concentrated on a group of asura that were facing three enemies. One of them they had killed already, but the second specifically avoided all attacks and was still able to hit an asura with every spear strike. The asura that had warned us earlier started a counter attack, but the Krait whipped his sword out of his hand with such energy, that the asura went down. Before he could react did the spear pierce his heart and he lay there lifeless. Revenge took a blood- and dirt-covered asura by cutting through the Krait properly from top to bottom. Powerless she fell down besides the dead asura, took his head in her lap and lulled her upper body back and forth in sorrow. I could still hear her sobbing at the stairs, and it broke my heart.

There were losses on every side, but it seemed that the asura would gain the upper hand. As I suddenly tasted something salty on my lips, I recognized that I was crying - I had never before in my life seen so much pain and death.  
But I didn't have the time to think about it any longer - because the third Krait from the group had spotted me and wriggled determined right to me.

My blood froze to ice and my limbs refused any command I gave them. _Run!_ It screamed in my head, but I couldn't do anything. I was like solidified.  
 _He will kill you. You shouldn't be here, not in this world. And now you will die, and there is no way back. Zojja..._

Only when Zojja called out my name I figured out that I must had screamed her name out loud too. The Krait now only was a stone's throw away from me, and I closed my eyes at death's door - when I suddenly felt something hot and the Krait in front of me screamed out loud in pain. A fireball had perforated his body and had driven him to his knees, but he wasn't already dead.

"Do something! Fight, by Oolas ghost!" Zojjas voice resonated while she tried two finish off two Krait that had come to close to one of the storage units.

Suddenly I felt the blood rushing through my body again and lifted the hammer. My body obeyed again.  
Without thinking about it I smashed the hammer onto the Krait - again and again. With every smash I let out a scream, a scream of sorrow, of rage, of fear. I didn't subside until the Krait was nothing more than a bunch of bone splinters and scaled slime. Only then I recognized what I had just done.

 _You have killed someone._

That thought made me sick, but given the fact, that there still were some Krait alive, I forced myself to stay strong. I ran towards an asura that was desperately trying to fight off the spear strikes of an already heavily wounded Krait. When he saw me he changed his aim and stabbed me repeatedly, whereby his spear left a huge hole in my right arm. Blazing pain shot up my arm and I couldn't feel my hand anymore, so I was only able to lift the hammer with my left hand. Round the puncture site formed a black circle that grew larger fast - _poison!_

Panic flooded me and I staggered , being overrun shortly by the pain, but my distraction had been enough. The asura beheaded the Krait with a sober strike and in the same move split off a scaled arm of another monster. But his painful scream came to an abrupt fade as an axe cut through his throat.

Suddenly there was Authen standing in front of me, covered in red blood splatters, but none of them seemed to originate from himself. "Are you alright?" He asked with worry, but I could only make out blurry noises. The venom was still spreading inside my body, and not only my arm, but even my whole torso was filled now with a ice cold numbness.

The world around me seemed to turn, but when Authens strong hands caught me I recognized that it was _me_ who was turning. He helped me to lean my upper body against one of the storage units, which humming surface felt comfortably warm against my back. Then he took out a small black vial and poured its content down my throat. Whatever it was, it burned in my gorge like fire and filled my mouth with a taste which could best be compared to a mix of rotten flesh and dead plants. I coughed and retched and struggled not to lose my stomach contents, but at the same time the numbness faded bit by bit. A glance towards my arm confirmed that the black flesh slowly took over a grayish color and step by step went over to a much healthier color. But still the wound was bleeding much, so Authen tied a stripe around it as solid as he could. This suddenly movement caused a pain that made me howl, but at least my vision was fairly clear again.

I observed the coast. We had won. None of the Krait were still alive, and Zojja had already started together with another asura, to carry together all the corpses and to burn them. But our side had experienced losses too. Besides the asura whose death I had witnessed, two other krewe members had lost their life - one of them the asura who had mourned about the male one. I supposed that one of the Krait hat killed her from behind while she had been mourning. Those three were lied in a state and were burnt separate from the Krait. Authen had meanwhile moved on and took care of the other wounded.

Narru appeared besides me, still bleeding from various smaller wounds. The bigger one had stopped bleeding by now, but the stripe around it had sucked itself full with blood. She was pale in the face and was breathing heavily, but the most horrible thing were the fury and sadness in her eyes.

"Krait!" She hissed full of hate. "I should have never agreed that this krewe proceeds their research at this place. After so many attacks we should have known that the Krait would form a bigger alliance one day soon... Those victims were unnecessary..."

She shook her head, as if she wanted to shake off her thoughts. Then she looked me in the eyes. "Are you okay? You look horrible."

"Thanks to Authen, the poison couldn't spread any further. But it hurts.. quite much." I mumbled with clenched teeth. Now that the adrenalin rush was subsiding, I was more and more aware of the pain caused by my wounds.

"Narru... When the Krait attacked, I... I couldn't do anything. My body was like frozen, I just couldn't move! It was like ice flowing through my veins instead of blood. Even if the control is back now, my feet are still cold as ice... I really thought I would die now!"

Narru watched me searchingly. "You literally got cold feet, hm? But you did well for a beginner. But let me tell you one thing... If you really want to call yourself the daughter of a warmaster, grown up with norn, you really should urgently change something about your fighting abilities. Best before the council summons the next meeting."

"And you got some ideas how to manage that?" Zojja asked, meanwhile done with her devastating duty. Both fires were blazing fiercely, the fire of the fallen enemies as well as the one for the fallen allies.

"I will train her personally. In the shiverpeaks. Give me one week and I make out of her an asura that is worth to have warmaster Narru as her mother."

Exhausted I leaned my head against the energy storage. That could only mean one thing: More fights. And more pain.

"And when do you want to start?"

Narru laughed.

"Tomorrow."

* * *

 **AN:**

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to translate the next chapter! The translation lags miles behind the original story, but even there I don't make much progress at the moment. But here it is, and as always feel free to note every mistake or bad phrasing! And thanks so much for reading! :)

~ Szal


	7. Chapter 6 - Traces in the snow

**Chapter 6 - Traces in the snow**

The next morning came way too soon. I had dreamt about my family, about the life that I had lived just a few days ago. If someone had told me one week ago that I soon would lead a whole new life in Tyria, I would have declared them for being insane.

Would I ever get the chance to go back? What was my family doing right now? Were they searching for me, did time stand still in the other world as long as I was here, or was a parallel-me living my former life now? Had there been more cases like mine, and if yes, what had happened to them?

Even if I could not answer a single question, I wanted to get back. This world was unique, amazing, fantastic - but it was also dangerous. Tyria fought against Elder Dragons, and I was right in the middle of it. Though I couldn't even fight! How could I ever dare to believe that I would possibly survive more than a few days in this world? And what happened to me if I died? Would I return to my old life, or would I disappear once and for all?

 _I want to go back. I just want to go home._

"Back where? To Rata Sum?" I heard a strange, but still familiar voice, while someone parted the curtains without any prior warning and my blanket disappeared with a sudden hitch. My condition was quite similar to the first morning back then in the guest house, only that this time not only my head did ache, but every single part of my body.

They had cleaned the wound on my arm last evening and had smeared on it an ill smelling balm, which made the pain bearable and closed the wound as good as possible. But Authen had warned me that I would still feel the consequences of the poison for days - and now I began to realize what he had meant with that. My right arm had started to hurt again because the balm's effects had faded. The left shoulder, where Zojja had grazed me with her fireball, blazed and tore like a sunburn, and pure fire seemed to flow through my whole body. Added to that were the dazzling light and the sudden cold, after the wonderful warm blanked had disappeared so abruptly.

I moaned and hid my head in the crook of my arm, but as the seconds passed and nothing changed, I dared a look. In front of me stood Narru, with arms crossed, already fully armored and with a wanderer's backpack shouldered. That was definitely up to no good.

"What are you waiting for? Night is long gone and we have a very long way ahead of us, and not much time. Get dressed and pack your bag, I want to get moving in half an hour."

"Eh?" Was all I could give as an answer; so early in the morning, my brain wasn't capable of bringing out more. I supposed it was a long time until midday, and I was hungry, everything hurt and I would have given everything for a nice warm bath.

Narru groaned enervated and threw my bag to me at the hammock. "My ears, what are you? Asura or skritt? I already said yesterday, that I'm going to train you. In the Shiverpeaks. Starting today. And time is running away from us. I expect to see you at the lab entrance in half an hour."

With these words she disappeared and shut the door with a bang. I sat up painstaking and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. The skin on my left shoulder was peeling and looked horrible, and the right arm was swollen and hot. I definitely needed more of this balm.

 _Since when did I confirm this training...?_

It was obvious that I didn't have any time to dawdle around, no matter how reluctant I was about that. Though I didn't know what Narru would do to me if I was too late, I didn't want to find out under any circumstances.

Sighing I grabbed my clothes which I had regardlessly thrown beside the hammock last night, and began to put them on. They were full of dust and my shirt was torn and blood-soaked here and there on its sleeves. And they didn't smell pleasant, but a shirt glance inside my bag told me that I had no other choice.

 _You should have brought clothes for changing with you._

I sighed again and brushed my ruffled hair with my fingers as good as possible, and tied it to a temporary braid. It had to do, since there was no mirror, but considering my further appearance, I couldn't make it worse with my hair style. Resigned, I shouldered the bag and fixed the hammer in its holder (at least I had cleaned my weapon the last evening).

It was hard to tell without a clock how long I needed, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Steadily I became aware of the comfort I would've had in my old life. I'd just have grabbed my smartphone and could've set the alarm - or even call a taxi to drive me home. As for now I would have to take potluck with hourglasses and carrier pigeons.

Ignoring the pain as good as possible, I dragged my feet out of the chamber that was located above Narru's study room, and stumbled down the stairs more than walking. The common room was almost empty except a hand full of asura, and the atmosphere was generally quite heavy-hearted. Some seemed to be mourning after the victims or were just shocked by the unusual hard attack. I didn't mind at all, at least I could avoid all unwanted attention this way.

But what caught my attention was a table loaded full to bursting with food in the room's corner. The assortment wasn't that huge and supposedly couldn't compete with the taste of Bromms creations, but it definitely was enough to allay my hunger. Sandwiches, whose spread smelled quite sweet and could be made of omnomberries, bread rolls and major pieces of ham. Besides stood some jars filled with water and clay mugs. I took a sip and grabbed a roll and a piece of ham.

I almost would have dropped it, because just as I turned around, Zojja appeared right behind me. Deep eye rings portrayed her face and she looked as if she hadn't slept for weeks.

"You look horrible!" Was the first thing I could say with a mouth full of breakfast, even before my brain was ready to switch on. Zojja snorted and took a slice of bread. "I just wanted to say the same thing about you. How are your injuries doing?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but ultimately regretted this movement. With my face distorted with pain, I just mumbled "it hurts."

Zojja rummaged around in her bag and gave me a small box, whose bad smelling content I already was familiar with. "Here's some more of the balm; be spare with it. You'll need it if Narru is training you."

I took the box thankfully after I had stuffed the last piece of ham into my mouth, applied some of the stinking balm to the stab wound and stowed the rest of it in my bag. "Narru wants to decamp in a few minutes. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm sure it won't be a walk in the park..."

"Definitely not. Narru is a warmaster, she will be unlikely to make concessions for you. And much less after your performance yesterday." I wanted to protest, but she interrupted me with a wink of her hand. "Believe me, it's for your best. Think about it when my sister lights a fire under your backside the next time."

"I'll try my best. And what will you do now?"

"The Pact is ready for the final assault against Zhaitan. Either we'll win, or Tyria is doomed. I have developed a Mega-Laser with enough firepower to even harm an Elder Dragon. This weapon makes defeature as good as impossible, at least I have been the one creating it! The only thing left now is to make the _Glory of Tyria_ operational. And therefore they need me."

"I'm sure that you will be victorious. And I look forward to seeing you again, when Tyria got rid of a dragon infestation." _As long as the Pact will be victorious and you'll survive..._

Zojja said her goodbyes with a short slap on my halfway healthy shoulder and I stepped outside on the stairs to the lab entrance, where Narru was already waiting for me impatiently.

"You're too late", she said with a nasty look and threw a heavy looking mantle at me, which seemed to be made out of wool, judging by the material and the weight. "Here, you are going to need this. Let's go."

Clumsily I caught the cloth bundle and tried to stow it in my bag while we were running. Narru didn't seem to be in a happy mood, so I didn't dare to pause for this. Where ever Narru wanted to begin my training, it seemed to be a very cold place. And far, far away, considering the enormous heat here in the jungle.

Even though the sun had barely chased away the morning fog, I already knew that a very long day lay ahead - and none that I would have wished myself. Narru set a blistering pace that seemed to fit a race more than a trek, and soon my feet hurt more and more with each step I took. Furthermore there were the insects that felt totally comfortable in this swampy area and who obviously took us to be perfect fodder. Every few seconds I had to chase away another fly, and more and more red itching bites appeared on my skin. More than once I threw stolen glances at Narru, who seemed totally unimpressed by this insect pest and just marched forwards at a quick pace, her face fierce and stern.

I felt uncomfortable in this silence, preferably I would have talked to Narru, to learn more about her and give her a chance to get to know more about me. But on the one hand I didn't dare, fearing her expected reaction, and on the other I was out of puff anyway and couldn't bring out one word.

The sun was still far from reaching its highest point, and I was already sweating like a horse and during the last hour I had wasted many thoughts about just collapsing on the ground. But I wanted to make a good impression and not to look like the last weenie; even though I was sure she already thought that about me, so I forced myself to carry on. Luckily, Narru decided to make a break shortly before midday, supposedly to eat something and rest.

Even before Narru opened her mouth to say something, I had already dropped myself on the hard ground and had put my head on my knees in exhaustion. Narru mumbled something, and though I couldn't see her face, I knew that she was rolling her eyes.

My knees still felt like jelly and I was gasping for breath when I lifted my head again and finally started to examine my surroundings. Apparently we had already travelled quite the distance, but the area hadn't changed much. The swamp like stench was almost completely gone, and here and there the green floor was streaked by rocks and stony ground, but otherwise it still looked like the area back in the swamps. Around us, small stony hills lined the way, and in the distance I could make out en enormous mountain, which summit seemed to perpetually spit out black smoke.

"Where are we?" I asked, after I finally had been able to catch my breath, and thankfully took a piece of already hardened bread that Narru gave me.

"We're passing the Mount Maelstrom - the gigantic vulcan that you can see in the distance. Soon enough we'll reach a Sylvari outpost, a friend will accompany us from there on. Once we reach the mount, it won't be far to Timberline Falls. I'm sure we will arrive at our destiny at nightfall."

 _Huh, Shiverpeak-Mountains. Therefore the thick coat._

I stared at Narru, who was halfheartedly chewing on her bread, her gaze losing itself somewhere in the distance, without recognizing anything. Right now, the dark circles under her eyes where more visible than ever, and her white bulging knuckles seemed to reveal a fierce tension.

"Narru... is something wrong?" I dared to ask cautiously, and after Narru examined me thoroughly without answering and then turned her gaze back to a distant point, I almost didn't reckon with an answer anymore. But eventually she sighed heavily, swallowed the last piece of bread and raised her claw like hands to her face.

"Those asura, they didn't have to die. Their sacrifice was senseless, their death redundant. If only you had been an experienced warrior..."

I raised an eyebrow, not sure if I misheard.

"Wait a moment. Are you seriously blaming _me_ for what happened?" Slightly enraged, I let out a snort, even though I knew that Narru was right somehow. She still didn't face me, even when she continued to talk, and her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

"Exactly, I do. If you would have been able to fight back, if we all would have known how to defend our lives better... Then they would still be alive. We should have been prepared! By Oolas ghost, so many Krait attacks that we were able to withstand unscathed. It was a warning, and what an obvious one! Why have we been to blind, to arrogant to see? If he had been prepared... If we had ordered reinforcement! It was evident that the krait would gather themselves and start a major offence. How could we..." She shook her head with disbelief. Her face was marked with anger and sadness. Finally she looked me straight in the eye, and in hers I could see tears of wrath and desperation.

"Those asura were my friends, Szallejh! This krewe granted me and my troops accommodation after the vigil stationed us in the swamp. And I wasn't even able to defend them. What kind of warmaster am I, that I'm not capable of keeping my allies alive? They will relocate the lab, I'll personally arrange that. This area isn't safe for a krewe anymore. And after we defeat Tequatl, the vigil too will leave the swamp. I'm not ready to gamble with any more lives - for nothing."

I peered at the ground to my feet. Of course I had been struck by the death of those asura, but I didn't think about the relationship Narru could have had to them and what their death could mean for her. I wanted to say something calming, something that could take away a bit of Narrus tension, but I knew that every single word of mine would only make it worse. So I kept my mouth shut and waited for Narrus outburst to be over, while I had to bite my own lips so I wouldn't burst into tears myself.

At last Narru jumped to her feet, shouldered her backpack and motioned for me to get up too. "Come on now. We still have a long way to go."

Although I had managed to catch my breath during our short break, not what we were walking at Narru's fast pace again, I just felt drained. However, it was a good distraction to focus on my legs, and quite quickly we reached a small valley where there was a Sylvari settlement. From the distance, it hadn't distinguished itself from its surroundings, as the tent's and hut's roofs were made of oversized leaves that fitted perfectly to the forest. But now that we came closer to it, I could see the fine constructs, though I was not sure which parts of the settlement had been built man-made and which had grown that way. Several Sylvari stood, sat and lay under the leaves, some talking to each other quietly, but nobody paid much attention to us. Strangers in transit were probably more often to be found here.

Only one Sylvari rose immediately as she saw us, and she approached us with a huge grin in her face. At the sight of this woman, even Narru's face brightened a bit, and the two exchanged a friendly greeting, then the stranger nodded towards me too. Her skin shimmered purple and was quite reminiscent of tree bark with its strong fibrillation, and her hairstyle, which consisted of dark leaves growing to one side, confirmed the impression that Sylvari were creatures made of plants, even though their statue had been modeled on those of humans.  
Her clothes were a masterful play of red and blue patterns dotted with bows and lace. Anyone else would have thought this outfit to be ridiculous, but on her it just looked right. She wore a wooden scepter whose tip was glowing eerily, and her hands seemed to be bathed in a layer of clear blue water.

"Nahraija! Good to see you." Narru introduced us briefly and then explained the purpose of our trip.

"I have already been expecting you, Narru. This forest has eyes and ears everywhere, you know? Surely you will not mind if I accompany you."

Narru laughed. "Not at all, instead your presence is very welcome. I was hoping that you would accompany us, to be honest."

Nahraija grabbed a small, inconspicuous bag at her feet and walked a few steps ahead, so we inevitably had to continue our journey. Confused, I followed the other two, and I couldn't let go of the feeling that I didn't notice something important. How did the Sylvari know that and especially when we would come? And why had she assumed to accompany us?

I waved goodbye to the other Sylvari staring after us, but none of them seemed to be even slightly surprised that two strangers just ran into their settlement, dragging one Sylvari with them. Maybe someday I'd have the opportunity to talk to Narru and get some answers to the many questions that were floating around in my head.

Now that a third person had joined us, the mood had grown much more pleasant. Narru told me that her and Nahraija had met because of the Vigil and had done many assignments together, and even though the Sylvari had left the Vigil, they still remained in contact.

Nahraija talked a lot, and her carefree nature made it easy to listen to her and to forget the time while walking. I was all the more surprised when I suddenly became aware of the drastic change in my environment. The air was much drier than in the wetlands, and the lush meadows had given way to a dreary bottom on which hardly anything could thrive. In the distance I could see snow-capped peaks, and soon the first snow covered the ground to our feet. The temperature had dropped noticeably, but I was too distracted by Nahraija's stories and so warmed up by the long and fast running that I hadn't even noticed. Only now a cold breeze made me shiver and gratefully I took the coat out of my backpack. It scratched wherever it met bare skin, but at least it kept warm. I knew that I would be very, very grateful for the next few days to have this coat.

In the meantime fine snow had started to fall from the gray clouds above us, and our shoes crunched on the snow-covered rock. Without the beacons that burned at regular intervals, I would not have been able to find a way between the rocks that towered around us. Narru went unerringly from fore to fire, she too hat put her coat on now, as not to freeze in the cold. Only the Sylvari, although most of her body was uncovered, seemed unaffected by the temperatures.

Suddenly, Narru stopped and motioned us not to move. Completely noiseless, she reached for her bow and cocked an arrow in, ready to attack at any moment. I didn't understand what was happening, but I too was well aware that there was danger around us. It was not until Nahraija drew my attention to a green monster being attacked by a wolf pack that I realized where the danger came from. The orc-like creature was dressed only in a loincloth and its back was covered with spines, but the most outrageous thing about it where the two heads sitting on its neck. Now I remembered the name of these creatures; it was an Ettin.

Fortunately, the Ettin ignored us, since it was too busy flinging the wolves away with its club again and again. But as soon as it had catched a wolf now lying dizzy in the snow, the next jumped onto the Ettin to bite into its flesh. Green and red blood mingled in the snow, but eventually the Ettin went down because of numerous bites. The wolves, who found its greenish flesh inedible, trudged the other way together, making sure the enemy no longer was a danger for them.

As Narru took down her bow I audibly let out my breath, only now realizing that I had been holding it for quite a while. I was shaking and sweat stood on my forehead, and I really didn't want to fight such a thing. Good enough for me, the wolves had done this job before we had to.

"Come now, on we go. It won't be long until the Ettins will look for their comrade." Narru growled faintly and continued marching along the invisible path between the beacons. Nahraija was silent; apparently the area here was too dangerous for light-hearted chatting. Not that it made me feel better in any way.

After what felt like an eternity, Narru left the path and led us higher in the mountains. It was a lot more strenuous path and I slipped on the smooth stone several times and was in danger of falling if there hadn't been Nahraija's hand grabbing me in the last moment, but I quickly realized why Narru had chosen this path. From up here we had a very good view of the beacon-lit path we had followed before, and it was besieged by Ettins, Dredge and other beings that didn't look particularly friendly. It would have taken ages for us to fight our way through them, if we would have ever made it alive.

By now, the sun had completely disappeared behind the mountains and the freezing cold was spreading. Despite the thick mantle I was shivering, and in the increasing darkness it became more difficult not to lose the grip under my feet. But instead of lighting a torch, the Sylvari had a much more intriguing way of getting around the problem with the darkness. On Nahraija's bark-like skin, more and more white veins appeared, in which white light pulsed brightly. And the darker our surroundings got, the brighter Nahraija seemed to shine on her own, causing the ground beneath our feet to be shrouded in her pulsing light. At last we could make out the sparks of a big campfire rise to the sky and there were voices, laughter and the collision of beer mugs. After a hard and slippery descent, which I spent more on my butt than on my feet, we stood in front of a group of snow-covered tents and some of the Norn who mad made themselves comfortable around the camp.

One of the Norn who saw us first approached us with a raised beer mug. The sides of his head had been shaved and his hair had been braided in a thick black braid, reaching almost to his waist. Lavishly tattooed patterns stretched from his forehead to the entire bare torso and certainly still further down, but thick leather pants blocked the view from the navel down. "He, strangers! My name's Aidan Baersson. Can I help you?"

Narru introduced us and asked if we could spend at least one night in this camp, since it was late evening already.  
"Surely, stay as long as you want! There's enough of beer and meat to go around, so go ahead, take it!" Aidan said with a grin, and Nahraija didn't need to be told twice; without hesitation, she accepted a full beer mug, which another Norn handed to her, and took a huge sip.

Narru hesitated, her eyes searching around the camp. "Say, Aidan… I'm searching for a Norn named Halla Eldarsdottir. Actually, I was expecting her here. Where can I find her?"

The eyes of the Norn flashed when he heard the name. Grinning, he tipped down the rest of his beer bug and blurted out a remarkably loud burp. "Halla, well… She left yesterday to hunt a white bear somewhere east of here, because someone said the beast was supposedly sighted there. She'll probably be on her travel for the next few days as I know her. But you can stay as long until she returns. She won't be out for more than five days I guess, since she's too addicted to our beer." He laughed and gave Narru a friendly pat on the shoulder. "And now come, drink with us!"

Narru first glanced at the sylvari, who was already slightly drunk, sitting on a stump of wood between the norn and laughing loudly over something, then looked at me. Keeping her eyes on me, she spoke to Aidan: "Thank you for your hospitality, and I'm sure we'll make use of it at least this evening. But first my… daughter and I have to take care of something."

I followed Narru slightly confused, as she passed Aidan and the norn camp to deposit her luggage, and I followed her example with my small bag, then we crossed a small creek which I had almost plunged into because of the darkness, and finally we came to a stand on a small hill lined with snow-covered fir trees.

"What are we doing here, Narru?" Shivering, I wrapped myself even tighter in the cloak and tried to recognize something in the faint glow of the camp fire behind us.

"Your training, have you already forgotten about that?" We don't have much time, so we shouldn't waste precious hours drinking. Take off your coat."

"What!?" I stared at her, startled, unable to believe what I just heard. Had she lost her mind in the bitter cold out here?"

"You should take it off. It will only be in your way. The movement will keep you warm anyway."

"But I left my weapon in the camp, and…" Narru interrupted me with an impatient gesture. As I reluctantly opened the buckle of my coat and pulled it off my shoulders, only to try to rub myself warm with trembling arms as good as I could, Narru began her first lesion.

"To win a fight, you'll need more than just a weapon. With weak opponents, it may be enough to just go wild with a hammer or anything, but you won't get far with it. For stronger enemies, you'll be dead after the first blow."

I swallowed. It really was damn cold out here!

"But before I can teach you how to properly use your weapon, it's important to learn how to avoid an opponent's strike. Whenever you have the chance to run away, you should take it before you even think about reaching for your weapon. A life and death struggle should always be the last option if you can choose to stay alive. But if there's no other way out, you need to be able to evade the enemy first, to stay alive until you can make the final strike. And you'll learn how to do this. Today."

Meanwhile, Narru had gotten rid of her coat too, but even though she was as lightly clothed as I was, she didn't seem to care much about the cold right now.

"It's completely dark; I don't even see the hand in front of my eyes! How am I supposed to avoid you?" My mood was low – at least I thought it couldn't get any worse. My bones ached from the long march, I was freezing, and now I was going to train in the dark.

"That's the point. In combat, you need more than just your eyes. Rely on your perception, see, feel, hear, smell – all at the same time. Now try to avoid my attacks!"

Even before I had fully realized her words, a not exactly gentle blow landed on my arm. I screamed out in pain and rubbed the throbbing spot, but the next strike came fast, this time on my shoulder.

"Don't just hang around, avoid my attacks! Focus on all your senses!"

As I desperately tried to see more in the dark than just black shadows, several more strikes landed all over my body. Tears streamed down my cheeks and froze as soon as they touched the ground to my feet. Anger rose inside of me, mingling with pain and displeasure that had grown in the last minutes, and finally I understood what Narru was trying to tell me all the time.

A faint whirring in the air told me that Narru's fist was coming at me again, and this time I ducked under her blow – with success, as I noticed, because the pain didn't appear this time. A warm feeling of triumph spread throughout me.

"Good. Very good. Keep it up!"Narru commended, though I was not concentrating on her words anymore, but on the sound of her shoes in the snow. A branch broke to my left; I took a quick step to the opposite direction, and managed to escape Narru's fist the second time.  
Better and better, I managed to block out the cold and the pain and concentrate on the most important thing: the shadow, behind which Narru was hiding, her footsteps in the snow, the sound of her breath telling me where she was. Over time, more and more punches missed their target, and inexplicably, I sometimes even sensed where Narru would strike next.

Narru seemed content with the progress I made, as the punches that hit her target became harder now and came in quicker succession, and eventually she did not hold back, flitting from place to place, beating first left, and then suddenly she was on the right. I felt the change in draft as she changed sides and responded by deliberately dodging her fist and coming to a stop behind her. But Narru had counted on it and turned around in the blow, so that she now rammed her arm into my stomach with full force, which made me kneel down whimpering.

"You're not as bad as I assumed." She said approvingly and raised her hand for the final punch. As I saw the shadow rushing towards my head, an unprecedented power awoke within me, forcing me to gather all the strength left inside of me and to not give in now. Narru was startled as I roused myself at the last moment and rolled away under her strike to take advantage of her carelessness and to give her a hard kick in the stomach while rolling still, which hurled her on her back rudely with a surprised outcry.

Groaning, I got up, brushed the snow off my shoulders, then I offered Narru my hand to help her up. My body was sweaty from the effort, and heat had seized me during the training, but now the wind abruptly cooled the sweat on my skin and made me shiver. Narru took a moment to find her voice, but then she laughed and smacked my shoulder in a kind way.

"Not bad. Nowhere near good though, but you're learning fast. Maybe you're not a hopeless case after all!" We collected our coats and returned to the norn camp. It had to be long after midnight, but there was still a lot going on in the camp. The norn sang and laughed as they emptied beer pitchers, and Nahraija was still sitting among them, but by now she seemed to be a little more than just drunk. Between all the muscle-bound, tattooed and half-naked norn, she made a weird contrast with her delicate, luminous figure, yet she got along with the norn as if she were one of them.

Narru led me to Nahraija and pushed me on the tree trunk while mumbling a "take care of her" to the sylvari, then she went to Aidan to clarify in which of the tents we would spend the night. As soon as I sat down, the heaviness and exhaustion of the day returned and mingled with the pain of the many strikes I had swallowed and possibly even a few bruises I had received from the training. Nahraija handed me a pitcher, which contained no beer but a steaming liquid. "Drink this, it will ease your pain a little bit," she said even before I could ask a question. Skeptically, I sipped at the hot drink, but it didn't taste as bad as I had expected. Bittersweet, but the sweet touch largely covering the bitterness. The latter probably came from willow bark, I thought, as I remembered that it was often used to cure pain of all kinds. In that case, it would actually bring me some relief.

"You're exhausted, rest a bit." The sylvari took the mug as soon as I had emptied it and pointed to as small tent that the norn had cleared for us in the meantime. I didn't let myself be told twice, tired as I was, and I fell into the tent opening and crawled half-heartedly on one of the furry sleeping mats.

Gratefully, I snuggled into a blanket of dolyak fur, judging by its size, and had fallen asleep before I could even think about the day's events.

When I woke up, I realized that I had been wrong the morning before. It could be even worse. It was getting worse every morning since I was in Tyria, and I was worried about how that would develop over the next few weeks. However, it was easier this morning as I slowly got used to waking up with pain throughout my body.

Tired, I opened my eyes and saw Narru, shaking my shoulder softly, telling me to leave the tent. I peeled myself out of the warm blanket, saddened to be exposed to the cold northern air again. Next to me, Nahraija was still snoring, and I grinned at the thought of seeing such an elegant creature like a sylvari snoring like that. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin, but white veins still glowed in her face, so it couldn't be that late in the morning. Careful not to wake her, I followed Narru outside. Overnight, some fresh snow had fallen, which had blurred almost all traces, but the fire was still burning thanks to some norn that either got up very early or hadn't slept at all.

Frapping the coat tightly around me, I gratefully accepted a pitcher whose content was almost certainly hot mead, and the norn also gave me a piece of dolyak meat for breakfast. But the rest didn't last long, as Narru urged that we had to start training while the day was still fresh. Snorting, I cast a look into the sky, whose dark blue was only illuminated by the first rays of the sun. It would be quite a while before the sun would rise behind the mountains.

 _How can you get up so early…_ I thought tiredly, as I put the empty mug on the bench and followed Narru to the clearing, while I reached for my hammer in passing. I wasn't sure how to survive this day, because with the sore muscled that plagued me, I wasn't even able to lift the hammer over my head properly. But there was no other way, I knew that, and the sooner I faced up to it, the sooner it would be over.

Again, Narru lined up in front of me and I was quite surprised that I seemed to be allowed to keep the cape on this time.

"Well, you can run away from your enemies and, if in doubt, dodge attacks of you show any signs of skill. But there will be situations where all this won't help you in any way."

She drew a long dagger, because her bow was unsuitable for a workout of this kind. "Most effective is an attack on the deadly areas. Be it a strike in the heard, in the head or in the guts. However, combat-approved enemies know how to protect these places well, which you should know too. It'll be the best that you search for the weakness of your opponent. Everyone has a weakness; you just need to find it in time before they find yours. Weaken your opponent by crippling, bleeding, trying to get rid of his weapon, or knocking their fighting arm out of action. Then, if your opponent – even for a single heartbeat – is defenseless, strike."

With her last words, Narru slammed her dagger onto my chest, but reflexively I raised my hammer so that the blade ricocheted off my weapon. Narru nodded, approving.

"I'll attack you know. Dodge as good as you can and block my attacks if dodging is no longer possible. And remember: Yesterday I only had my fist. Today I have a sharp blade and I won't hold myself back with using it."

I swallowed down the uncomfortable feeling that overwhelmed me at Narru's words, and raised my hammer again as a sign that I was ready.

It was around early afternoon when we paused our training for the first time. Not only had Narru made me block an attack numerous times, she had also taught me how to disarm my opponent. When Narru finally gave the signal to take a break, I let my exhausted self fall into the cold snow, which was not only covered with dirty footprints, but also with blood here and there. Several cuts adorned my body and had ruined my clothes in some places. Fortunately for me, I had thrown the cloak into the snow early on, so at least it was still intact to keep me warm.

Narru too hadn't been left unharmed, since my hammer had left some traces, and she too was breathing heavily as she joined me in the snow.  
"You're quite useful, I have to admit that. Give yourself a short break, I'm sure Nahraija can give you some relief." Her eyes wandered to the sylvari, who had joined us some time ago and had watched our training with much interest. Then she threw her dagger at my feet. "You'll need that for the next step."

The sylvari got up and joined us in the snow, though she still wore nothing that could have kept her warm in any way.

"Do you ever feel cold?" I asked her as she took a look on my wounds and at least stopped the bleeding of some with her healing spells. Nahraija smiled to herself. "I have a strong attachment to nature, and an even stronger one to the elements, especially to water. Snow and ice don't bother me, they're just another form of the element that I like the most."

 _That doesn't really answer my question,_ I thought, but I didn't say anything and let her do her work instead. Every time she put her hands on one of my wounds, a wave of the purest water would seem to flow through me, wash away my pain, and seal the wound. I was fascinated to watch her keep her eyes closed in perfect concentration, while she muttered incomprehensible words to herself. Now I knew why Narru had taken the sylvari along with us: as a healer, she had a great benefit for someone who was just learning to fight.

It was already dark by the time Narru finished the training for the day, thought not quite as late as it had been on the day before. Nahraija had a lot to do again, but less with me and more with my teacher whom I had attacked with her dagger during the afternoon. Narru seemed pleased with me; she didn't say it out loud, but I saw the appreciative glances she gave me whenever I managed to break through her defenses again. And I sensed that I was changing, since my body was covered with spots, cuts and bumps, but the pain was bearable. I wanted this training, since I didn't want to be stuck in a situation where I was helplessly dependent on others, and someone might lose their lives because of my incapability to fight - again.

I became stronger, my reflexes faster, and even if I fell into my bed like a corpse every evening and woke up the next morning with such intense pain that I could barely move, I held out. Nahraija helped me wherever she could, and she was there for me when I could no longer control myself on the evening of the fourth day, bursting into tears because of all the tension and feelings that accompanied me from day to day. Nahraija had led me to the source of the little stream, a little way to go from the norn camp, since I had an urgent need to wash myself. Dirt and blood clung to my clothes and my skin, and my hair was matted and greasy, and sure enough I smelled worse than an undead.

So now we were standing in front of a small pool, from where the fresh water in the brook sought its way through the Shiverpeaks, and while Nahraija was heating the water with her elementalist magic, I slipped out of the clothes that I urgently needed to replace as soon as I would return back to Rata Sum. In the same moment that the cold wind hit my bare skin and almost made me freeze, I jumped into the now hot pool and was enveloped by the steam of the vapor from the heating water. Nahraija joined me and began to comb the knots out of my hair with the brush I had taken with me out of my backpack.

The soothing bath suddenly awoke images of the past deep inside of me, images of steaming bath tubs, movie evenings on the couch, wrapped in soft blankets with huge bowls of popcorn, and pictures of my family – all that together with the pain in my body, as well as the memory of the last days here in Tyria was too much for me right now. Tears welled up in my eyes and suddenly I was shaken by heavy sobs that I couldn't hold back – and I didn't want to.

Nahraija grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a tight embrace, holding me and humming soothing melodies until I had calmed down a bit.

 _My family…_ Would I ever see them again? Would I ever be able to live my old life again, or would I have to stay captured inside an asura's body until my death? Sure, it was exciting and Tyria was an incredibly fascinating world, but it was not _my_ world. I wanted to go back home, into a life that was not marked by pain and struggle. I didn't want to fight dragons and other monsters; I wanted to watch the newest movies on TV. But a feeling deep inside of me told me, that this would not be possible, that there wouldn't be a way back for me. I had to come to terms with that I had here, but it wasn't easy after all.

My breathing had calmed down a bit, but my nose ran uninterrupted and every not and then a small sob escaped my mouth that I couldn't hold back. Nahraija, realizing that I was beginning to calm down, let go of me and turned around in the water so that she could look into my eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. How could I talk about what had happened to me with anyone here? Nobody would believe me, except Zojja, and Zojja wasn't here right now. "It's just… too much for me right now." I sobbed, seized by a sudden hiccup. "I might lust have… lost my bearings right now, and… besides, it hurts everywhere." My attempts to beat the hiccup by holding the air in made Nahraija laugh. She went back to unraveling my hair and then rubbing something into it that, judging by its scent, had to be some sort of soap. I washed the dirt off my body and then brushed it from my clothes, which we would later hang up to dry by the fire.

As soon as my hair was reasonably acceptable again and I finally felt clean the first time in a week, we got out of the warm pool and Nahraija handed me a piece of cloth to dry myself as best I could. Then I slipped into my shoes and wrapped the coat around my shoulders, by now it was so dark that nobody would notice that there were no clothes underneath anyway. _And what if_ , I thought. _They're norn, and they're all too drunk to remember what they've seen tonight in the next morning._ Besides, I had decided to go to bed right away to be as rested as possible for tomorrow's training.

The next morning surprised me with the fact that I wasn't thrown out of bed by Narru. Instead, I woke up as the first rays of sunlight lit the tarpaulin above me, and found out that no one but myself was inside this tent anymore. Nahraija's bed next to mine was neatly rolled up and outside I heard her laughing with one of the norn.

The norn would quit their camp the next day and return to Hoelbrak, they had originally wanted to retire much earlier, but Aidan insisted on waiting for that norn named Halla, who had been supposed to return from her hunt the day before. Aidan had instructed us to make a detour east on our way back, so we could search for her to make sure nothing happened to that woman.

I quickly slipped into my clothes and pushed the tarpaulin aside to look into a bright blue sky. For multiple days there hadn't been any new snow, and even the icy wind didn't blow quite as strong today, as if it could be seen as a good sign.

Narru was sitting by the campfire with Aiden, beckoning to me as she became aware of me.  
"Szallejh, I have something very special planned for today's training. I won't fight you today, but Aidan will." Her meaningful gaze fell on the norn sitting next to her, and my stomach tightened in view of the strong muscles covering arms as thick as y head. But because of the many fights with Narru I also had become stronger, and the soreness of my body was barely noticeable today. I knew Narru gave a lot on my abilities if she let me fight against this norn.

After breakfast, we went to our small practice area, which looked as if there had been a huge battle going on. Since there hadn't been any fresh snow falling onto it, the ground was still strewn with blood and dirt and churning snow. This time, not only Nahraija but also Aidan followed us, and after we crossed the stream, I stripped off my coat and dropped it onto a halfway clear stone. The cold was biting into my skin, but I knew I would get warm soon enough.

"Today is the last day of our training and I have to admit that you didn't disappoint me. At first I thought you'd never have the slightest chance to become a warrior, but you have shown potential. And if you keep on track and keep practicing, one day you may even be good at what you're doing."

 _Thank you very much for these uplifting words, mum._

"And because of this potential, I think you're ready for the next step. You fought against me often enough, now is the time to get some variety. Aidan is a terrific fighter, and he won't hold back, that's for sure. Good luck."

Narru nodded towards me and then made the way clear for Aidan, who approached me with a huge smile and with crackling joints. He was at least four times my height, so I had to tilt my head back to face him.

"So, little mouse. Then show me what you've got!" Aidan laughed and threw his head backwards. Then he roared deafeningly loud and cramped his entire body. What I saw chilled shivers through my body, and my ears ached from the roar, but I couldn't believe what I saw as Aidan slowly transformed from the huge norn into an even bigger bear right in front of my eyes. I stared in astonishment at the furry animal standing upright in front of me, with bared teeth and extremely sharp claws.

"That's his animal form! Every horn has one, according to his totem!" Nahraija called cheerfully as she waited eagerly for the fight.

Aidan – if the thing in front of me could even be called like that – roared again, but this time the last of humanity had disappeared out of his voice, and then he charged at me. In a flesh, he let himself fall forward and dumped down his claws, so that at first I had no choice but to back down and hold the hammer protectively in front of my face. The bear continued to urge me backwards until I suddenly felt the cold stone wall behind my back. Cold panic went through my body. _The vulnerability. Find his weak spot!_

I noticed that the bear stood in front of me, legs apart, ready to put his claws down for the next strike – while between his legs there was a huge gap, through which I could easily push myself thanks to my size. With an outcry, I rolled forward, between the bear's hind legs, swinging my hammer against one of his gigantic, puffed thighs. The bear roared in pain and turned to face me, but I had quickly risen to my feet and backed away from my opponent. My breath was going heavily and the blood throbbed in my ears as I strained to find a way to defeat Aidan.

 _His claws are sharp, but his back is completely unprotected!_ That was it, I just had to get him to turn his back on me once more.

For a while I tripped around him, avoiding his attacks as best as I could while trying to get to his backside, but he was too fast and never would let me out of sight.  
Instead, he kept pounding on me with his huge paws, showing no sign of fatigue. He caught me a couple of times, never really solid, but he indeed left some blood welts on my body. Finally, I had him far enough that he made a massive punch with both paws, emitting a huge roar, and ne noticed too late that I was positioned between his legs again and with all the strength that I could bring up, I thrust the hammer onto his back. The bear fell to the ground, and even before he touched the ground, he had returned to the human form.

But I had grossly underestimated Aidan, because for him, the fight was still far from over. With a pained look in his face, he turned around and with his muscled arms, and then he hurled me against the rock so hard that the world briefly blacked out in front of my eyes. My weapon dropped from my limp hand, and panting and spitting, Aidan lifted me with one hand and pressed me so hard against the rock that I could barely breathe. Fidgeting helplessly, I hung there like a stranded fish, desperately trying to fill my lungs with air as my vision darkened.

"That's enough! Narru's voice echoed from the stone, and instantly the grip loosened and I rudely plopped down on the floor with my bottom. Gasping, I rubbed my aching neck, glad for every single breath I could take.

Narru took my hand and pulled me to my feet, and I saw that she was actually smiling.

"That was very good. To recognize the back of the bear as a weak spot… You learn fast. And now you've learned hopefully, that you should never become cocky just because an opponent is on the ground!" She clapped her hands. "It's nearly noon, I think we're done here. If we still want to search for Halla, it probably would be better if we start today, otherwise we won't get to Rata Sum in time."

Aidan stretched himself and made a loud growl. "I hope you'll succeed in your search! It doesn't fit Halla to stay away that long, even when it comes to a white bear. If you find her, tell her to return to Hoelbrak as soon as possible. I'll wait for her there with the best beer I can find!"

We packed our few belongings and took one last meal together with the norn, then our little squad started moving. I was glad to have come through my training reasonably well, even if I had to buy new clothes and would carry away some scars.

This time, we didn't make our way over the peaks, but kept to the east of the signal-bristled path, which was besieged here and there by wolves and ettins.

"Who keeps these fires intact when the path is always full of enemies?" I asked Narru after we had crept around a group of Ettins that were taking a deer apart.

"Vigil troops regularly eliminate all the vermin that occupies the streets, and kindle the fires for the wanderers, but these beasts keep coming back. And the Vigil can't spare enough people to set up proper patrols."

We went farther and farther away from the beacons until we reached the entrance to a ravine where Halla Eldarsdottir had last been seen. Footprints still testified that a group of norn had run into this ravine, but there were no traces out of it. A queasy feeling spread throughout my body as we entered the gorge, Narru with a drawn bow and I with my hammer held tightly, while Nahraija was ready to assist us with her spells at any time.

We followed the footprints deeper and deeper into the dark, until suddenly there were clear signs of fighting on the ground. In the midst of the trampled snow I could see traces of both red and green blood. Halla's hunting party had seemed to cross Ettins while searching for the bear. But even though a fight had definitely taken place, there were no corpses to be seen, only green traces of sanding marks and the paw prints of a large animal, which had probably found the ettins to be a quite good fodder for it. Its tracks disappeared into a cave that was so black I couldn't even see the entrance. I definitely wanted to get out of here, but I knew that as long as there were no corpses, there was still hope we could find Halla in there alive.

The footprints led us deeper in the gorge, and the unwholesome feeling within me became stronger and stronger, and I had to turn around all the time as I felt myself being watched by someone. Or something. But I couldn't see anything in the growing darkness, so I continued to stumble along the ground together with Narru and Nahraija, until she suddenly uttered a strangled cry. At the same moment, I also recognized the two bodies, laying beneath the stone wall in an unhealthy looking pose and completely tattered, the blood in their bodies frozen a long time ago. Nevertheless, one could still clearly see that those were male norn, and still no trace of Halls Eldarsdottir. Narru stiffened, she didn't need to say what we all thought. This didn't bode well for Halla.

Now in the run, we followed the trail, but now there only were Halla's footprints left, and the ground was more and more drenched in blood the deeper we got. She could never be alive after so much blood loss! And who had done this to them, had it been the bear they were hunting?

A short time later we got our answer. At the end of the gorge, two norn were waiting for us, but they had absolutely nothing in common with the norn that I had met so far. Their flesh was replaced by blue glowing ice, and their eyes were just white bulbs. There was no life left inside of them, as they seemed to be controlled by a foreign power, like marionettes.

And behind them stood Halla, or rather what was left of her. Her skin hung in tatters, and where bloody tissue should have been, a layer of thick blue glowing ice was already forming itself. Halla's eyes had already lost all lifelines and the woman once owning the body had long since died. I retched at the sight of her and was glad I hadn't eaten much that day. I wanted to run away screaming, to get away from this nightmare creature, and involuntarily took a step back.

"What are these beings!?" Nahraija shouted out in terror, and even Narru seemed to have never seen such defaced norn before. Completely horrified, she stared at the norn that had probably been her comrade once, anger and disbelief on her face.

"Icebrood… These are the servants of Jormag. And the made Halla one of their own." My grip on the hammer tightened as the Icebrood norn faced us for battle.

"Jormag's influence so far from the Far Shiverpeaks? That's not possible! Halla… Oh, they'll pay for that they did to you!" Narru shouted out in anger, sending one arrow after another into the norn closest to her until he didn't move anymore. Nahraija's hand had begun to glow red and she was throwing fireballs at the other norn with her scepter, making him scream out in pain. His voice was inhumane, it sounded like breaking ice, but the fire was not enough. As he made himself ready to swing a gigantic, ice-covered greatsword, I intervened and punched him with my hammer, a huge blow to his hands, which broke into several ice shards, so that his weapon fell to the ground uselessly. Another blow to the skull finally brought him to a standstill, so Nahraija could concentrate on covering the rotten Halla with her fireballs. It was Narru who drove an arrow between the eyes of the norn and ended her puppet existence. She knelt down and put a hand on the norn's chest. "May the raven accompany on your journey and cleanse your soul. Nahraija, burn the bodies." Then she got up and motioned for us to follow her out of the gorge.

Standing at the exit I could make something out in the dark that looked like a white bear, but the creature was too deterred by Nahraija's flames that it disappeared into the cave before I could take another look at it.

After we had brought a bit of space between us and the gorge, Narru turned to us in an icy voice. "You have to start the way back alone. I'll go to Hoelbrak and tell Aidan about Halla's death. They need to know how far Jormag's claws have already reached, and that Zhaitan is no longer the only great threat that Tyria must face. Go to the United Arcanist's laboratory and wait for me there."

Nahraija nodded, then Narru looked into my eyes and put her hand onto my shoulder. "You deserve to call yourself my daughter. Go now, and avoid the enemies. Follow the path, the signal beacons will guide you well at night. Don't stop until you arrive at the lab. I'll come to you soon."

Narru turned around and ran in the direction of the norn camp. Nahraija and got under way again, but none of us spoke a word. Too cruel was what we had been forced to watch in the gorge, and everyone was caught in their own thoughts. Fortunately, the road was safe from here on, and as Narru had ordered, we didn't take any breaks. The pain in my legs was omnipresent, and fatigue became more and more widespread, but the thought of the lab, where not only solid walls, but also a decent bed would await me, kept be going on.

Since I didn't know the way, I let Nahraija led me. After the last week, I had great belief in her, and again, she didn't disappoint me. The moon was about to dodge the next day's morning sun as we left the dense forest and I clearly felt the smell of the swamp in my nose. And a short while later, completely exhausted and tired, we stumbled across the crater-lined beach to the lab, at which I had fought against a horde of Krait together with the crewe a week ago.

* * *

 _Horray, I finally did it! And it just took me... one and a half year. Yay. *cough* And I don't even have a good excuse why it took me so long, it was just... me... not doing the things I should... so just... forgive me, yes? :D_


	8. Chapter 7 - Brothers and Sisters

**Chapter 7 – Brothers and Sisters**

 _I'm going to die._ This thought was spinning around in my head, over and over, getting louder and louder each time my inner voice screams it out, until at some point it grows into a painful cry. This will be my end.

I can't see anything, even though I've opened my eyes, there's only blackness around me. Only occasionally flashes of light that seem familiar to me in some way, flare around me, even if I can't figure out where I know them from. They hurt in my eyes, and yet I can't do anything against it.

Helplessly I'm standing there in the blackness, breathing heavily and frantically hitting my arms around me, but there is nothing that could resist my touch. I hear screams, painful and desperate, so loud and penetrating that the source must be very close – is that me, screaming?

My feet are cold as ice. I feel water flowing around them, so cold that it resembles thousands of small needles sticking into my flesh all at once. No clothes protect me, completely naked; I am at the mercy of the dark threat, which rises from second to second, wrapping more and more of my body into the freezing cold and ramming even more needles into my skin.

How did I get here? What have I done to deserve such a cruel end of my life?

Once again, there is panic growing inside of me, stronger than before. The flashes of light are increasing, and yet I can't see anything of my surroundings. I keep my hands on my ears, why can't someone make these cries stop at least!?

The water has already reached my stomach. _I don't want to die!_ A jolt drives through my body, my limbs are finally moving. There must be a way out; somehow I have to get out of the water!

Step by step I wade through the water, which is still rising higher with each breath that I take. The ground on which I walk feels soft, somehow unnatural, it pulsates with heat. But no matter how far I walk, I feel no change. Whatever is under my feet remains level, and walking is becoming increasingly difficult, as the thousands of needles and the freezing cold begin to cover every part of me with a numb feeling.

Suddenly the flashing light stops. Does it, though? Or is it just me, closing my eyes? Hard to say in this dark, but I force myself several times to open and squeeze my eyes. In fact, there is only complete darkness around me! But that doesn't help me, since the water is now bathing my chin, and second after second I can feel it covering more of my face. _I won't be able to breathe anymore!_ I struggle with my arms in frantic movements, trying to swim to the surface to get some air at least, but in vain. The ground doesn't make place and the water still rising higher, as if something would make me stick to ground, still allowing me to move freely without loosening my feet from the hot pulsing mass.

My mouth fills with a disgusting taste, like rotting water that has been standing in the heat for far too long. The lips pressed together as tight as possible, I try to breathe through my nose, but soon no air gets into my lungs, but only cold, rotten water.

I scream all the air out of my lungs that my body could still hold, but no sound reaches my ears anymore. Gravity overwhelms me, presses me to the ground, forcing my face against the soft, warm something. Desperately, my lungs scream for oxygen, my whole body is burning, but with every breath I fail to take, only more and more water enters my lungs. I try to cough, but the only thing that happens is that my chest explodes with a tremendous pain. _That's it. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

Like a mantra, these words are the only thing that I can focus on as my senses weaken gradually. Although I'm inside the water, I know that tears are streaming down my cheeks and mingling with the surroundings, as I can feel their salty taste inside my mouth.

Everything fades, even the pain in the end, only the freezing cold stays and just doesn't want to give way.

 _I don't want to die! Oh, if I just would have been able to stay in my world…_

 **"** **Szallejh!"**

A loud voice breaks through the wall which held me captive, and with a jerk, the water disappeared around me. Coughing and spitting, I tried to pump as much air into my exhausted lungs as possible, no matter how painful each breath was. _I'm alive. I'm alive!_

As my body calmed down and my senses were slowly coming back to me, I began to feel my surroundings again. Below me were cold stone tiles, wet with the tears that still streamed down my cheeks, and I myself was on all fours next to a completely rumpled hammock, clad only in a nightgown and still coughing like a madman, while every movement was like a fireball shooting through my body.

A warm hand touched my shoulder, but even its touch burned like fire, and I groaned involuntarily.

"Shhh, it's all good. It's all good, you've had a bad dream." I knew the voice that spoke to me. The figure of a sylvari appeared in my visual field and knelt in front of me so I could look at her. Purple bark and loafed clothes… _Nahraija._

At last I regained my normal breathing ability and as the coughing sensation subsided, I leaned my back against the wall, which suddenly felt pleasantly cold. I closed my eyes and stifled the last sob.

"A dream!?" I rattled hard, my voice sounding like I hadn't used it for decades. "Oh no, that was not a dream. It felt too real for that. I almost drowned…" Tears welled up in my eyes again and my upper body was shaken by violent sobs.

Nahraija dabbed my sweaty forehead with a piece of cloth. "I believe you. You screamed like a banshee, and when I came to look after you, I found you lying on the floor, wildly dealing out blows to left and right, gasping for breath, as if you were about to suffocate… By the pale tree, what was going on with you?"

"That's… exactly what it felt like." I muttered, covering my face with my hands. A strong headache started to seize me and I closed my eyes, hoping to beat the pain with this.

"I… I was trapped in a kind of space I couldn't escape from, and… and water kept rising until I couldn't breathe, and…"

My voice broke. I forced myself to inhale and exhale deeply and soothe myself. Gradually, I succeeded, and when I was reasonably convinced that the headache wouldn't get any worse, I carefully opened my eyes. Nahraija was still staring at me with a concerned look, but when she realized that I was feeling better, she helped me get up to my feet. Dangling dangerously, I allowed myself to hold on to her for a while longer, while she was watching me with an intense glance.

"You look like you could use some more sleep. We arrived here just over three hours ago, so you can lie down a bit more if you want to." She meant it well, I knew that, but her words made me feel ice cold again.

"Just to risk that this terrible dream will come back? Never! Besides, I wouldn't be able to find any piece of mind anyway. Not after _that_. I think… A hot shower would be a good thing now."

Nahraija nodded. "Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get you something decent to wear." Her gaze fell on the plain undershirt I wore, and then to the bundle of ragged and dirty clothes that had been carelessly thrown to the floor.

I grunted in agreement, then stumbled out of the room, letting Nahraija open the door for me. Walking had never seemed so difficult to me, I slowly put one foot in front of the other, careful not to stumble over my own toes, and more than once I nudged my claws painfully over the cold stone floor. Suddenly the running seemed incredibly complicated, the outward-pointing tows seemed to follow their own will and constantly bent downwards, and I wished for my dainty human feet. In general, I longed for so much that I would never have the luck of enjoying in my life again. My how shower that allowed me to stand under the water as long as I wanted (maybe the PeDACUR hat an option to extend the cleansing program, but with a pragmatic race like the asura, that was unlikely to happen). Or a clock, because I had never learned to set the time just by looking at the sun's position, and certainly I couldn't say from the gut where north was. I wanted to lie in my cuddly bed until noon, without pain, without worrying about my room being overrun by krait.

I opened the next door with a sigh, behind which lay the laboratory washing room. It was small and didn't show much luxury, but at least I could take a shower. That would push my day already a quite good bit forward. As I passed, I threw a glance into the mirror hanging on the wall – and at once wished that I hadn't. I'd never looked so awful in my life, neither asuran nor human. My hair was disheveled and dull, the week in the norn camp hadn't been filled with that much body care, and there were strands of hair standing in all directions as if they were loaded with electricity. My body was strewn with bruises, cuts and bumps, and my eyes were adorned with enormous blue-black rings, the origins of which had been fairly certain the precious night.

Shaking my head, I adverted my eyes and threw my undershirt carelessly on the floor. _Did I lock the door?_ Who should come in anyway; except of Nahraija, everyone was already busy with their work, as I could hear from the curses coming from the down floor. Shuddering because it was a bit cooler than expected, I stalked into the cabin, which opened with a soft hiss and closed again as soon as I had entered.

After I started the process and pleasantly warm water washed away the bitter taste of the previous night, I closed my eyes and imagined what it would be like to be somewhere else. _At home in my shower, then on my way to work, a normal day…_

But the rush of arcane energy that followed the water dragged me back to the present. _Here I am, in a swamp of monsters, tired, battered, just waiting for someone to attack this lab again._ Sighing, I left the cabin, dried off the still damp areas with a towel and rinsed out my mouth in addition. I definitely had to ask Zojja how asura practiced oral hygiene… A pruned twig had served well the last few days, but surely there was something more suitable than a piece of wood.

On a shelf, I found vials of different colored contents and appliances reminiscent of toothbrushes, but I didn't want to use any of them, not until I knew what mouths they had been in.

A hesitant knock made me cry out softly and stumble back a few steps, bumping my toe again painfully. Panicking slightly, I held the towel to my chest, even though there wasn't much to see, and watched with a wild beating heart as the door slowly opened, and a dark pile of leaves appeared, followed by a purple head. _Nahraija._

Relieved, I let the towel sink to the navel and tied it sporadically around my waist. The sylvari closed the door behind her and held put a stack of clothes that didn't really match.

"Here, Kamma gave these to me… She said some of them might be a little too big, but that's still better than those ripped clothes of yours, isn't it?"

I thankfully took the clothes after slipping into my underwear. The shirt was a bit loose and the pants could have been shorter, but they did their job and would certainly last until I was back in my room in Rata Sum. Preferably, I'd have started the travel right now without hesitation! But we had to wait for Narru's return, and who knew what else awaited us here…

I slowly span around in front of Nahraija. "Well, how do I look?"

The sylvari smiled. "You somehow remind me of a colorful bird. If you want to catch attention, you have reached your goal." The first time for this day, I burst into laughter and for a brief moment all misery was forgotten. I would have liked to pat my companion on her shoulder, but I kept my hands where they were, since I wouldn't have gotten higher than her stomach anyway.

"Kamma also said that you can keep the clothes, if you want. Said she doesn't need them anymore." Nahraija added, and we headed back to the bedroom so I could get the rest of my belongings. And hopefully I wouldn't hurt my toes everywhere now. "I'm not surprised she doesn't want to keep them, regarding that look!"

"Well, I think they're beautiful. For my part, I like everything colorful. Only a few loops here and there…"

"Don't you dare!"

After eating a late breakfast and telling the crewe members details of the last few days, Nahraija and I sat outside on the stairs of the lab to take a breath and let the warm late spring sun warm us. The swamp stench was omnipresent, but I was able to hide it far enough so at least it wouldn't make me choke anymore.

"When do you stink Narru will come back?" I mumbled after we had been silent for a while.

"According to her, she would have to arrive soon. Maybe she made a break in Hoelbrak, who knows? Don't worry, she's a warmaster. She'll be fine."

"I'm not worried. I just want to go home…" I tiredly rested my chin on my knees and wrapped my arms around my legs. The coast was calm, all the remains of the pyres had been removed, and somebody had even bothered to level the floor around the lab so at least the largest craters had disappeared. In the distance, some crewe members were buzzing around a whirring, enormous devide that reminded me of binoculars, and probably it was the megalaser Narru and Zojja had spoken of. In addition to the asura, I could still see other shapes, bigger and heavier, as they waddled through the area like giant frogs on two legs. I squinted because of the sun to get a better view, but what I saw proved my suspicion right: half a dozen frogs were working with the asura on the megalaser and on some smaller implements I couldn't see correctly from here.

"What are the Hylek doing here at the swamp?" I asked softly without taking my eyes off.

"They live here in the swamps," smiled Nahraija, sounding as surprised as if I had just asked why fish didn't float in the air.

"When the United Arcanists built their lab here, it was a chance for the hylek to male allies in the fight against Krait and Undead terrorizing the shores. And the asura could simultaneously explore the lifestyle of the local hylek."

"Positive results for both sides. But how did you know that?"

"Why did you ask, if you thought I wouldn't know the answer?" Nahraija laughed. "We Sylvari are anxious to learn as much as possible about the world an its inhabitants, and the knowledge one sylvari has gained throughout their life is given to the other unborn children in the dream when they die."

I muttered something incomprehensive and continued to watch as one of the hylek broke away from the group and slowly waddled towards us. Occasionally, his incredibly long tongue shot up to catch a fly, and his scaly, slimy yellow body was covered in places by a simple plate armor.

As he reached the stairs, he gave a friendly greeting in his inhuman, quacking voice, examining us curiously with gigantic brown eyes, especially me. "Are you new to our little friends?" Then his gaze went to the sylvari, "and you, are you coming from the plant people behind Chokevine gorge?"

Nahraija grinned and shook her head. "We're just passing through, my friend and I." _Friend, well, well!_ "This is Szallejh, and I am Nahraija."

The hylek smiled as well, baring his huge mouth into which he could have stuck me completely. "My name is Utoctacel. Glad to make your acquaintance!" As he spoke, he made soft quacking noises and blew his cheeks, and the sight was so funny that I had to bite my tongue so as not to giggle. Nahraija thrust her elbow between my ribs, but a quick glance confirmed that she too could not resist a grin. Utoctacel didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't care, for his countenance remained friendly as he sat down beside the sylvari on the stone steps and stretched his slimy face into the sun.

"What brings two such young things as you to such a dreadful place like the Splintered Coast?" Asked the hylek after a while, and again grabbed one of the flies that had dared coming near us.

"I paid a visit to Warmaster Narru… to my mother… and together we spent several days in the Shiverpeaks. Well, and Nahraija came across the way while we headed there."

"Quite accidentally, of course." Nahraija added with a chuckle, then she returned the question to Utoctacel. His eyes were lost in the distance, and a sad shadow settled on his features. "This area hasn't always been this way, you know? Our elders tell us stories about our country before it overflowed with corruption. I hope I live long enough to live the day when everything will be like those times again." He sighed. "But we have to become active ourselves, it's not enough to watch inactively and wait for everything bad to suddenly disappear from this world. We…"

A grumpy asura, whose name I didn't know, interrupted the conversation as he loaded down with a huge box down the stairs and nearly stumbled over us.

"Away from there, you're in my way! Unfavorable pack, make yourself useful or disappear before accidents happen here because of you!" He bumped hard into the sylvari with his chest, and Nahraija softly cried out in pain, but he ignored her and Utoctacel, who was grumbling things to himself in an for me incomprehensible language, which were guaranteed no complements.

Shaking our heads, we walked to the edge of the stone steps, into the cool shadow of the building, which was very welcome after the time in the blazing sun.

"Asura, the epitome of friendliness." Chuckled the sylvari and immediately gave me an apologizing look as I tried to protest. "I'm sorry, but those are facts. Of course there are exceptions like you, but you can't deny that most asura look at everything that is not their own reflection with complete condescension."

Utoctacel laughed out loud as I mumbled my head back on my knees and frantically wondered what I could answer to that. But the sylvari was right; unfortunately, it was one of the main characteristics of asura to praise them boundlessly in the sky and treat everything else as filth. If I thought about it, I really had made positive experiences with my peers so far; my whole story could have been different if I had gotten the wrong people on my first day.

"So, where was I?" The hylek stretched for a moment and made a very loud quack before continuing. "I want to see this land live and blossom again! But we have to for together for that. All of us, not just the hylek. That's why we're here with our little friends and many of us have moved with the big fleet to kill the undead dragon. Because Tyria suffers, and what our country least needs are its inhabitants being at war against each other. We're all brothers and sisters after all, aren't we? And as such, we should hold together, not beat each other's heads in front of the eyes of our real enemies. Only if the people of Tyria manage to work together can we win."

Nahraija thoughtfully stared at the ceiling above our heads. "Do you really think we can do something like that?" Every race has enemies in their inner ranks… Nightmare Court, Inquest, Flame Legion… Not to mention the wars between the races. The creation of the Pact was a good start, but how can we manage to overcome even the tiniest conflicts that sustain hatred? Even recently there have been incidents of conflict between charr and humans within the Pact. How should such a diverse community last forever?"

Utoctacel silently rocked his head. "That, my little plant friend, I cannot say. But as long as the sun shines in the sky, I believe that the day will come. The day our country will be free."

After a long silence, the hylek rose, brushing nonexistent dust off his thighs, shielding his eyes against the sun to better see off in the distance.

"Well, my friends, it's time for me to go. Quaztocel is still waiting for a box, which I am supposed to bring him. Good luck on your further journey, and always remember my words. To win, we all have to work together!"

He smiled his broad frog grin again, then hurried up the stone steps to return shortly afterwards with a wooden box whose contents shone in a variety of colors. I looked after him until I could barely distinguish him from the surroundings, then I also got up to find a meaningful job for the day.

We had just has lunch and headed out to clean outdated energy cores with smelly green pumice when finally Narru's familiar figure became visible on the horizon. I lowered my sponge and thrust the energy core into Nahraija's hands, glad to no longer have this stuff on my skin, and rose to meet Narru. She looked completely exhausted with a dark shadow on her face and I feared that she might fall over at any moment, but otherwise she seemed uninjured.

"Szallejh!" She called out when she recognized me, and patted me on the shoulder as a greeting. "I'm glad you made it here. I have been held up in Hoelbrak longer than I expected. Knut Whitebear was worried about Jormag's servants already being so far from the dragon's center of power. And Halla's death was unexpected for some, so precautions had to be taken, and –"

"Alright," I interrupted, "we held the position here. You haven't missed anything." _Except for a damn realistic nightmare and that nasty stuff that my fingers will smell off probably for a while longer._

"Well then. Come to my study room in half an hour, I want to talk to you in private."

She didn't gave me an answer to my confused look; instead, Narru passed me without further reaction and disappeared into the shadow of the lab. After last night, I could imagine how exhausted she had to be, even if I didn't really know what matters there were to discuss.

Shrugging, I returned to Nahraija, who had engaged the two asura next to her in a conversation about making chocolate bars, and resumed my work on the energy cores. _Only this half hour, then I will never touch that stuff again. And think twice about whether I offer my help or not._

After half an hour, or at least I thought that about half an hour should be over, I hurried to Narru's study. She seemed to be quite good to talk to today, but I didn't want to destroy that with my tardiness.

I raised my hand to knock, but just before my fist touched the wood, the door was torn open and I almost hit Narru's nose. Unimpressed by my fist, which I quickly pulled back, Narru looked at me with raised brows. "Just in time. I thought I'd have to pick you up." Which wouldn't have gone too well. "Come in, sit down."

For a while, Narru stared at me in silence, as if she didn't really know how to begin. Finally she ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "Well… I was in Hoelbrak and told Halla's relatives about her demise. May her skalds still sing songs of her victories for a long time. However, the head of Hoelbrak, Knut Whitebear, was not thrilled that Jormag's servants had penetrated so deep into the land of Tyria. So far, we thought Zhaitan was the only thread, but the other dragons are also growing in their power dangerously fast… Too fast. But I have at least one good knows. Aidan seemed quite taken with you, and he agreed to take over your training."

Confused by this revelation, I almost choked on my own saliva and had to cough a few times before I could respond.

"Please what, training!? I thought our training was complete! You said you are happy with…"

"Oh please, that's just what you say to give the kids a little feeling of success! You may be able to prove yourself against an unarmed Grawl, but there's still a lot missing for the war against the dragons."

Anger rose inside of me. One day ago, she had said that I earned her pride, and now suddenly I was a worthless person again? I snorted. "Oh yes? And the fight against Aidan was all a show, right? Am I now to weak for you to be trained by yourself, so you just hand me over like an annoying student?" I suppressed the need to jump up and to poke something into her head, but the tears of anger that welled up in my eyes couldn't be prevented.

Narru sighed again and raised her hand as if she wanted to put it on my arm soothingly, but after a moment's consideration she let it be, whatever had come to her mind.

"Your actions are far too impulsive. After all, that makes your story more believable that you grew up under norn… But you misunderstand me. You fought well against Aidan, one more reason why he likes to take on the training. But there is so much more you need to know for being a warrior. You need stamina, strength, experience, you have to deal with emergencies, and be able to survive out there for a while. You need to know how to deal with wounds, if there's no healer nearby, you need to know which enemies you are going to face and which you prefer to avoid. All those things can't be learned within a single week. And on top of that you need proper armor! You can't handle a fight in those rags, at least not without having to buy completely new clothes every time. Besides…" She seemed unsure if she really should complete the sentence. "Besides, you're not my student, but I have accepted you as my daughter. And you can't just leave your kids like a student, even if you wanted to."

I snorted again. " _You_ could do that. You have not confirmed anything to the Council yet, you can always back down…"

"By Oola's ghost, I've given my word and I will keep it! Even if I have no idea where you came from, but you'll surely tell me when the time's right. And Zojja trusts you, and if you even know her the slightest, you'll know that her trust is something only the fewest of people will get. So if Zojja believes in whatever you're telling her, then I do too. And I have to give up on the training, not because you're not worth my effort. But because I'm going to prepare the final strike against Tequatl here, and then my order requires me to return to the Shiverpeaks once that's done. There would be no time for you training, but I will regularly check your progress, believe me! Therefore, Aidan will travel from Hoelbrak to Lion's Arch weekly, and await you there. Don't let him wait if you want to survive his training."

I was almost ashamed of my outburst now, but I couldn't prevent my human emotionality. After all, until about a week ago, I was nothing but a normal, sensitive human. And I wasn't sure if would ever be able to change that and adjust myself to the asuran way of living, or if any part of me would always remain human. _Always… Have I already given up any hope of going back?_

"So, Szallejh. Surely you will return to Rata Sum soon, am I right?" I nodded. "In a few days, I'll start a job in the Aquatarium to stay afloat financially. And then, let's see… Maybe a crewe will take me?" Narru tried to camouflage her upcoming laugh attack as a cough, but I had already expected such a reaction. _Who would take such a stupid asura as me in his crewe anyway…_

"Aquatarium, eh? I wouldn't eat there myself, but if the pay is good… But kid, if you're really this focused on joining a crewe, ask Zoj… your aunt, if she'll give you some tuition. She is extremely picky about her students; recently she took on a twelve year old tinkerer, an orphan who, with her own golem, has already cleared out most of Metrica's predators single-handed. But I'm sure she'll do you a favor for her sister." She grinned, as if she didn't believe herself what she just said.

Surely Zojja would at least consider to teach me a little bit, because the more I knew, the bigger was the reputation ( _or the less the shame_ ) that I brought her as a family member, but it wouldn't be fun for her. Three-year old asura probably knew far more than me, and if she really taught only such geniuses… Good luck, fat chance.

"Well then, that would have been clarified. In one week, Aidan will await you on the first day of training at Macha's Landing, do not disappoint. If necessary, ask for directions, at least you'll find the way to Lion's Arch on your own. It's a breeze from there. But I still have one thing left."

Narru got up and motioned me to do the same before rummaging around in a bag, gradually pulling out pieces that were almost certainly part of an armor.

"In Hoelbrak, I have had these made for you, as to say as a little… welcoming present in this family. I can't offer you a helmet, since you should have it made custom in the near future. One of the crewe members, Zort, is very good at making and repairing armor. You should talk to him as soon as you have time."

With the pieces of armor in her hands, she came up to me and helped me put them on. When I asked where she knew my size from, she just grinned.

The armor itself was surprisingly heavy when I finally had put it on completely, and I snorted under the unexpected weight. Narru instructively lifted her firefinger as she studied my crimson head. "Do you see? And that's exactly what I meant with perseverance and strength. An armor will protect you from most damage, especially if you refine it with a few runes, but the extra weight must not put you in a competitive disadvantage. That's why you need to train. Otherwise you'll be heavily armored but way too slow to run away from a horde of trolls."

She led me to a small mirror that I had never noticed before. Slowly turning, I studied my reflection in the mirror; despite the extra weight that pulled hard on me, the armor pleased me a lot. The breast protector was made of ocher-colored leather, with red metal around the chest, and embedded in the middle a bluish shimmering hexagonal gem. The shoulder pads were gilded, as well as the belt, on the left side hung red fabric almost to the ankle and right were enough buckles attached to hold all the bags in the world. The gauntlets, also red with gilded ornaments, fitted in astonishingly well with the burgundy leg gown Kamma had given me, and the shoes were made of hard brown leather with shiny toe guards and red metal bucklers. And the best: it fit perfectly!

"That's beautiful! Narru, it must have cost you a fortune! What do I owe you for this?" Unsure if I had enough gold to repay it all, I clung to my gauntlets as if to keep them that way.

Narru shrugged. "If you have contacts in Hoelbrak like me, it's not that hard to get cheap armor in good quality. You'll need a better one at some point, but it'll be enough for a start. And hopefully it will keep you away from having to buy new clothes every day. The Aquatarium certainly doesn't pay well enough for that. And as I mentioned before, take it as a gift."

I laughed and felt a big stone fall off from my heart. That Narru gave me such a beautiful gift meant that I hadn't disappointed her as much as I had feared. And that she accepted me slowly but surely as what I now hat to pretend to be, as long as I hadn't found a way home.

"Phew. Thank you… mother." The word left my lips only slowly and very quietly for fear of ruining everything. Narru's eyes widened, and for a moment it was obvious how much I must have had taken her by surprise. But after a few heartbeats, her mine was already unreadable again and clearing her throat, she scratched her ear. "Well, then…"

"Can you possibly help me out of the armor again?" I babbled on to break the awkward silence that had filled the room. The armor was magnificent and certainly helpful in combat, but I was not used to it and not only did the sweat run down my spine in small streams, but my arms began to ache under the unfamiliar weight.

Laughing, Narru assisted me as I awkwardly slipped out of the leather and metal, then stuffed everything together so I could grab it without losing half of it on the way.

"Okay, I'll but all that stuff in my bag then; if possibly I'd leave tomorrow at the latest. And, err, Narru?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

Narru waved goodbye to me and opened the door because I was too busy to find the handle.

"Oh, one more thing…"

Narru waited in the threshold with her brow raised, the knob still in her hand.

"If we're a family now… Can't we at least leave the formal address? With all this warmaster stuff? I think that's kind of strange, or is it… Is that common…?"

Luckily, she left my ognorance of asuran speech uncommented and just smiled.

"I think we can."

The whole lab was in turmoil; asura ran wildly around, grabbing the bare necessities and engaging each other in heated discussions. Nahraija and I were already standing in front of the stone building, our packs ready, waiting wildly for the troop to start moving.

Just now a carrier pigeon had flown in with the news that the pact had successfully defeated the first of the Elder Dragons, Zhaitan, and that on their return from Orr a victory celebration would take place in Fort Trinity. Full of anticipation to see Zojja again, and to witness this tremendous celebration myself, I padded from one foot to the other and listened to the excited asura around me.

"This victory was made possibly only by the genius of the asura! First commander Tippa, then Zojja's Megalaser. Without us, the pact would long have perished!"

"I wonder how many victims there have been…"

"Does that mean the undead will finally shun this coast?"

"What about Tequatl, is he weakened by the death of his master? Will he ever attack again?"

Finally, the last asura left the lab, and together with the hylek, who had also received the message with joy, and a few Peacemaker golems, our little troop set in motion, led by Narru and Kamma, who seemed to know exactly which way they had to lead us. They set a pace that would have been worthy of a marathon, but no one complained, because each of us eagerly wanted to arrive as soon as possible.

I was the only one who wasn't surprised by the win against Zhaitan, but nevertheless the general euphoria tore me away. Of course, I was prepared to experience this situation through the game, nut it was another sensation to actually stand between all the asura and celebrate that it indeed was possible to defeat a dragon. I knew what that meant for Tyria: an enormous ray of hope for a continent that had been suffering the dragon's corruption for far too long.

Our way led us only briefly through the swampy coastal area, soon Narru and Kamma turned off into a tunnel that was partly flooded with water and was illuminated at regular intervals by strange, lively-looking lamps. On closer inspection, I realized that the lamps were basically just wooden scaffolding on which roundish vessels hung, filled with glowworm-like luminescent insects.

Just as the pleasant temperature of the tunnel had cooled me down somewhat, we left the darkness and landed in the middle of a sylvari camp, shielded from the enemy environment by a huge thorn wall. Only a short exchange of words was necessary, so that the sylvari joined us and tuned melodic victory songs.

The afternoon came to an end when we reached a small ravine that marked the boundary of two areas. Kamma offered to rest, but no one wanted to waste time unnecessarily, and Narru promised that if we proceeded swiftly, we could be at the Fort at sunset, possibly ahead of the pact itself.

The environment hadn't really changed, except that the air had cooled down noticeably, as there always was a cool breeze coming from the water. Still, it kept warm enough that I was relieved to have contradicted Nahraija when she wanted me to wear the armor to demonstrate it to Zojja.

A narrow path led down a steep slope, and the horizon was filled with the view of the sea. Basically, this was just a bay, but it was so big that you couldn't see the land behind it. But what could be discerned was the many inhabitants of Tyria, who cavorted in this path and all had the same goal: Fort Trinity. Suddenly every dispute seemed forgotten, Charr walked alongside humans, even talking to each other in a friendly tone; sylvari and asura exchanged words without even mentioning the dark events from the past.

While our pace seemed to be accelerating still, it was Nahraija who kept the conversation going, putting her excitement into words and telling me exactly why that day meant so much to her. I snatched up terms like "love", "wyld hunt", and "happy future", but most of what she said went past me, since I was too focused now on the view between the rugged area and huge trees that certainly were hundreds of years old.

The evening sky shone like liquid fire, and a beautiful moon rose behind what was probably the Fort Trinity. An incredibly huge complex, with walls of metal, and the gates provided with gears whose size were even four times that of a norn. A blue-glowing cube shimmered over everything, and similarly blue-luminescent lights adorned the bath in front of the fort. As impregnable as it looked, the doors were wide open and from inside came loud noises of celebration and victory. When we passed the gate, I had to swallow, because among these gears, which were wider than I was long, I definitely didn't want to stand in between when they were being closed. Quickly I crossed the threshold and glances at what lay behind the tons of steel.

The interior of the facility was too much for me to assimilate in this moment, because everywhere stood inhabitants of Tyria, cheered, celebrated and told stories to each other. To the right of me stretched a heavily armored harbor, on which were various types of ships, and ahead of us a ramp extended towards another heavily guarded forecourt. I had long since lost sight of Narru, and I was completely convinced that I'd lose my bearings in no time at all if left alone, so I attached myself to Nahraija's verse and was led by her. She seemed to be pulled by an inner urge, ran through the crowd, ignoring the ones she knocked over. I got an answer to this unusual behavior of my friend when we passed several more gates and ramps and came to stand on a copper dome with blue-green glass. Here the crowd was the most dense and from the sky gently fell bright and colorful confetti.

Where the dome was highest, the heroes of Tyria stood in a circle: Logan Thackeray, the man so immortally in love with his barefoot queen, next to him Eir Stegalkin, legendary Norn warrior with her formidable wolf Garm, and Rytlock Brimstone, Charr tribune of the Blood Legion. Behind him stood Zojja, with a huge grin on her face, since it was her Megalaser that made up most of the victory, and Caithe, Sylvari thief and one of the firstborn. They formed the former Edge of Destiny, whose first attempt to defeat the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik had failed miserably and resulted in Snaff's death, so much did I know. In the middle of the circle stood s amall, dark-skinned asura with thick black curls and round ears that reminded more of skritt than of asura, whose face I had never seen before, but I knew her name from the crewe's stories: Pact Commander Tippa.

Nahraija, however, had eyes only for one: a green dressed sylvari, who kept himself in the background rather shyly. Trahearne. _How strange to see them all so close – and so realistic! – in front of me…_ In the game it had always been a matter of course, I knew the faces, knew their voices. Now, however, they seemed completely alien to me, only in those moments did I realize how strange the sylvari actually looked with their bark-like skin and how scary such a charr could actually be if he stood on his hind legs raising above your head. The sounds and smells were not at all what I had expected; in the air was a strange mixture of fragrant flowers, sweat and wet animal, all in all, not necessarily unpleasant, but yet very unfamiliar. So many voices mingled in my ears; the squeaky, arrogant voices from the asura; sylvari, whose sound was similar to humans, but had something indescribably fluid and melodic, and so many, many more.

As soon as Trahearne became aware of the sylvari, he lost all his insecurity and hurried towards her with his arms open, lifting her and hugging her close. At that moment, I realized why Nahraija had been so nervous when she had learned of the Pact's victory, and why she could hardly wait to arrive here. With a warm feeling in my heart, I watched them for a while, ignored the thought of what Trahearne would probably had to face in the near future, and was just happy that in this time of suffering and feat, there still existed such a thing as love.

But then suddenly Zojja stood in front of me, blocking the view of my friend, and without further thinking I pulled my aunt in a tight embrace. She stiffened, but she didn't push me away, and that gave me affection, for at that moment I was filled with adrenaline and happiness hormones.

"Zojja! I'm glad you're alright."

Eventually, Zojja broke loose from my embrace, wiping off invisible dust of her knees, cleared her throat and stood in front of me with folded arms.

"Believe me, dear, a genius like me doesn't get shot down that fast. I have to tell you more about the Megalaser later. My invention, as you surely know, and it has brought us a fair way further, believe me!"

"I know," I laughed, "I heard nothing but stories about your awesome Megalaser! But what about you, are you alright?"

Zojja snorted. "I'm fine, don't you worry! You feel fresher than ever after killing a dragon." The shrill, arrogant undertone in her voice was balmy for my ears right now, and I willingly het her head us a little further, where the crowd stood not that tight.

"Remind me to introduce you to the commander later. You'll like Tippa, I'm sure. She is just as emotionally inclined as you, in fact you'd both have provided very good norn… But now let's just celebrate a little!" She eagerly ordered two pitchers with something weirdly sweet, which certainly contained as much alcohol as sugar. A soft voice on my head told me not to overdo it with the alcohol, but I didn't pay much attention to it; after all, this was a celebration, and celebrating included having a drink with the others.

"Is it not a silly thing for a genius like you to get drunk? I mean, because alcohol kills brain cells and all this…"

"Pah! The thinking capacity in my brain is enough for whole Hoelbrak! One or two cells less are doing nothing. Now let's drink on Zojja's brilliant Megalaser!"

We had just started when Nahraija and Trahearne joined us together with a third person whom I did not recognize at first. But finally, I managed to assign this asura with brown curls and equally brown eyes, which grinned at Zojja and me (especially me!) with a crooked grin. "Hello, Bromm! Nice to see you." Zojja laughed between two sips of the stuff that I had now identified as Omnomberry-booze. _Bromm, right! The one who can cook so well!_

"Right, that's me." He laughed and also ordered something to drink, while I put my hand on my forehead because I had spoken out loud again.

"How come I haven't seen you in the recent days?"

Embarrassed, I tugged at my ear. "Well… I was, let's just say, on the way. To do something…"

"Alright, you don't have to justify yourself. I only missed you in the Synergetics College, that's all."

I was sure my face was starting to look like a ripe tomato, and my heartbeat was pounding loud in my ears. I was all the more relieved when Zojja drew attention to another topic. "So, one dragon defeated, the nation united for the first time in forever. What's next?"

"The next dragon, I'd say." I ventured. "If the Pact was strong enough to defeat Zhaitan, then we can do more if we stick together. After all, we're all brothers and sisters, aren't we?"

"Righed," laughed Trahearne, Nahraija still cuddled in his arms, "we are all brothers and sisters."

* * *

Thank you for the lovely reviews even though I have been silent for so long! I have a lot to catch up, and there's still so many chapters to go ~


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